A Walla Walla prison guard and another Milton-Freewater resident are charged with savagely beating a Georgia man to rise in the ranks of an outlaw motorcycle gang.
Dustin L. Wendelin, 40, and Charles C. Montgomery, 29, were arrested last week following a months-long investigation by law enforcement officers in Georgia, Washington and Oregon, along with several federal agencies.
Court documents show the two hold leadership positions in a local chapter of The Pagan’s Motorcycle Club, also known as The Pagans.
The club — formed in 1957 in Maryland — is viewed as an outlaw biker gang by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and reportedly has a long history of violent crime and drug trafficking.
Wendelin, a corrections officer at Washington State Penitentiary, was taken into custody at 6 a.m. Sept. 9 while on the job.