Michael Mahoney, Firearms Charges, California 2021

A federal indictment has been returned against Michael Mahoney, 29, of Fairfield, California, charging him with possessing a firearm with an obliterated or altered serial number and possessing an unregistered short-barreled shotgun.

Mahoney is the third individual to be indicted in the Eastern District of California based on an investigation into a brutal beating at the clubhouse for the Vallejo chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

According to court documents, in October 2021, two different victims—both of whom were members of a different motorcycle club that is considered a “puppet” (or subordinate) club of the Hells Angels—were beaten by Mahoney, Jaime Alvarez, Dennis Killough Jr., and other club members based on perceived infractions of the Hells Angels’ rules.

On December 8, 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Mahoney’s Fairfield home and found several firearms, including a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver with a serial number that had been scratched off, as well as a Sears & Roebuck 12-gauge shotgun with a barrel that had been sawed off to approximately 12.75 inches in length. Mahoney had not registered his ownership of this short-barreled shotgun with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as required by federal law.

Michael Mahoney faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of possessing a firearm with an obliterated or altered serial number. If convicted of possessing an unregistered short-barreled shotgun, Mahoney faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The investigation was conducted by the Solano County District Attorney’s Office, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, the Vacaville Police Department, the Vallejo Police Department, the Fairfield Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron D. Pennekamp and Jason Hitt are prosecuting the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/third-hells-angels-motorcycle-club-member-indicted-illegally-possessing-two-firearms