Shawn Ryan interviews Justin DeLoretto, a former Mongols Motorcycle Club chapter president, about his path from street-gang violence and punk subculture in Oregon to senior roles in an outlaw motorcycle club, and his later career as a social worker and therapist. DeLoretto recounts being arrested as a teenager for assaults linked to anti-racist street fights, and describes a serious ambush that left his identical twin with life-altering injuries. He also outlines how touring in a punk band intersected with ‘crew’ conflicts and organised violence.
A central section focuses on DeLoretto’s account of law enforcement scrutiny after he helped establish the Mongols in Oregon. He says a 60-mile pursuit of an unmarked vehicle ended in his arrest on multiple felony counts, including conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and $14m bail, before he was ultimately convicted on misdemeanours and placed on restrictive probation. He alleges the prosecution narrative was inconsistent with recorded admissions from agents, and separately claims federal infiltration operations (Operation Black Rain) demonstrated the limits of club background checks.
DeLoretto also offers a second-hand origin story for the Hells Angels–Mongols feud and describes the continuing toll of the conflict through killings of friends. He says he sued Oregon’s Youth Authority after being fired from an internship over his club history, winning a small award. In later years, he describes imposing fitness and anti-meth rules in his regions, then leaving the Mongols after internal politics, threats, and the death of a younger member he had supported. He now runs men’s groups and works with at-risk youth, arguing he does not miss club life.
DeLoretto says that during “Operation Black Rain,” which he describes as a roughly five-year undercover investigation into the Mongols, six undercover ATF agents (three male members and three wives) went through the same background checks and “passed lie detector tests.”
Read this moment →Justin DeLoretto says Oregon Youth Authority pulled him from class, accused him of “infiltrating”, and then fired him from an unpaid internship. He says he viewed the decision as unconstitutional discrimination, sued the agency and won $1,001 plus attorney fees.
Read this moment →DeLoretto recounts a violent escalation after his group assaulted a touring band, followed by what was framed as a ‘squash’ meeting that turned into an ambush on his twin brother. He says his brother suffered catastrophic injuries and long-term disability. The episode provides no corroborating documentation, but the account is detailed and central to DeLoretto’s narrative of how street-gang conflict bled into wider organised violence.
Read this moment →Justin DeLoretto, a former Mongols MC chapter president, recounts a 60-mile pursuit in Oregon where he says he believed he was tailing suspected rivals before discovering the vehicle was law enforcement. He says he was subsequently jailed and charged with multiple felonies including conspiracy and attempted kidnapping, before later being convicted of misdemeanours (reckless driving and menacing) and given the maximum sentence. DeLoretto frames the case as law-enforcement targeting and disputes the basis for the kidnapping allegation.
Read this moment →Explaining why he ultimately left the Mongols, DeLoretto describes helping establish a Mongols-affiliated ‘Raiders’ chapter at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, and later leading a large ride-out to demonstrate strength. He says a younger member he had personally backed was killed during a confrontation at a bike-night bar when rival club members allegedly arrived looking for a fight. DeLoretto frames the death as a moral turning point and part of the chain of consequences from decisions he made in expanding the club.
Read this moment →