Hells Angels Members Charged in ‘Murder-for-Hire’ Scheme

Well, you don’t see headlines like this very often.

Reports are breaking that two Hells Angels members have been arrested and charged with a murder-for-hire scheme, which is not the surprising part.

The surprising part is that the scheme was being orchestrated by Iranian interests who wanted someone assassinated in the United States.

Kill Them

For all their faults, many of the outlaw biker clubs are notoriously patriotic, or at least they pretend to be on the outside.

American flags are regular décor in clubhouses, and there are significant members of these clubs who are veterans.

That is what really had me baffled until I saw that the Hells Angels members that were recruited were from a Canadian charter, not one here in the United States, so this all started to come together.

The men were reportedly plotting to kill several individuals in the United States who had fled Iran for $350,000.

The filing stated that sometime between December 2020 and March 2021, Iranian Naji Sharifi Zindashti, 49, Damion Patrick John Ryan, 43, and Adam Richard Pearson, 29, had conspired to kill two residents of Maryland.

The plans for the assassination were done using the SkyECC messaging service.

One of the targets reportedly defected from Iran, which gibes with the fact that Zindashti has been tied to a network that targets dissidents from Iran for kidnapping and assassinations.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen stated, "To those in Iran who plot murders on US soil and the criminal actors who work with them, let today's charges send a clear message: the Department of Justice will pursue you as long as it takes and wherever you are and deliver justice."

According to prosecutors, the men agreed to a payment of $350,000 for the hit, as well as a bonus of $20,000 for expenses.

Zindashti is now reportedly back in Iran, but the other two men are already in prison in Canada for unrelated charges.