Erie man spared prison for acting as drug courier for Pagans Motorcycle Club in Pittsburgh

An Erie resident has avoided prison for his role as a drug courier with the Pittsburgh-based chapter of the Pagans Motorcycle Club.

The defendant, Mark Stockhausen, has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh to time served and ordered to serve three years of supervised release, similar to probation.

Stockhausen, 43, faced a sentence in the recommended guideline range of 12 to 18 months for his guilty plea to conspiracy to traffic in at least 252 grams of cocaine, or about a half a pound, in 2020, according to court records.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville sentenced him to time served and supervised release on Jan. 9.

A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh in December 2020 named Stockhausen and 29 other defendants in a sweeping indictment that targeted the Pittsburgh chapter of the Pagans. The defendants were members or associates of the club, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Pittsburgh said.

Stockhausen was arrested on Dec. 21, 2020, and had been out of prison on an unsecured bond of $20,000, according to court records. He was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Erie but prosecuted in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, where the U.S. District Court for the the Western District of Pennsylvania is based.

Pagans accused of running drug conspiracy

The U.S. Attorney's Office alleged accused members of the Pagans and their associates violated federal gun laws and conspired to traffic in cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin from January to November 2020. The office said the drugs were distributed in the counties of Allegheny, Erie, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland.

The lead defendant was Bill Rana. The U.S. Attorney's Office described him as a "fully patched" member of the Pagans Motorcycle Club and the sergeant-at-arms of the club's Pittsburgh chapter. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies used wiretaps on 10 telephones to build the case against the defendants, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

In announcing Stockhausen's guilty plea, in May 2021, the U.S. Attorney's Office said investigators identified Stockhausen as "an associate of Mr. Rana's and a courier for Mr. Rana's drug-trafficking operation." The office described Stockhausen as a "drug courier for the Pagans Motorcycle Club."

The office said Stockhausen got cocaine in Michigan from another codefendant, Hasani James, and returned to Pennsylvania with the drugs, which others in the conspiracy distributed.

"Stockhausen was intercepted over the telephone operated by Rana and also communicated with Rana over Facebook Messenger," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The U.S. Department of Justice classifies the Pagans Motorcycle Club as a violent outlaw motorcycle gang, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The office said the Pagans' membership is alleged to distribute cocaine, meth, fentanyl, heroin, marijuana and other illegal drugs.

"The Pagans are one of the most prominent outlaw motorcycle gangs in the eastern United States," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Pittsburgh said in announcing the indictment in the case that involved Stockhausen, Rana and the 28 other defendants.

Defense urged judge to impose a lenient sentence

Stockhausen asked for a sentence that would keep him out of prison.

Scheduling conflicts were among the reasons cited in court records for why more than two years elapsed between his guilty plea and sentence.

Stockhausen's court-appointed lawyer, David DeFazio, of Pittsburgh, said in a sentencing memorandum that Stockhausen, while out on bond, had been "a model citizen" and had displayed "exemplary and substantially drug-free conduct."

DeFazio in the memo said a sentence that did not include prison would allow Stockhausen to "support his family and maintain his home" and that Stockhausen "requests and expects to participate in substance abuse treatment regardless of the sentence imposed."

DeFazio also argued that the evidence showed Stockhausen was neither "involved in any planning or organizing" of the conspiracy nor "exercised any decision-making authority with regard to the conspiracy," according to the memo.

The U.S. Attorney's Office submitted a sentencing memo in which it asked the judge to "impose an appropriate sentence." The office cited Stockhausen's guilty plea, "minor criminal history" and other factors.

Other defendants in case were sent to prison

The codefendants with whom Stockhausen associated are incarcerated.

James, of Detroit, pleaded guilty in February 2022 to one count of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. Judge Colville sentenced him to five years in federal prison and four years of supervised release on Sept. 28, 2022, according to court records.

Rana, of Cheswick, outside of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty in April 2023 two two counts that he conspired to traffic in meth and cocaine. Colville sentenced him to four years in federal prison and four years of supervised released on Nov. 7.

"Over the course of the conspiracy," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release on Rana's sentencing, "Rana obtained and redistributed over one kilogram of cocaine and over 140 grams of methamphetamine from multiple sources of supply that Rana redistributed."

The office said investigators during the probe searched Rana's residence in December 2020 "and seized a variety of ammunition, which Rana was precluded from possessing due to a prior felony conviction."

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie PA man spared prison in drug case tied to Pagans Motorcycle Club