A federal jury has convicted Charles E. Smith Jr. for his role in a violent roadside ambush in Blue Springs that left a rival gang member shot seven times. Smith, 40, of Kansas City, known as “Crash,” and John Travis Fisher, 52, of Manford, Oklahoma, known as “T-Bone,” were found guilty this past Friday in connection with a years-long pattern of alleged violence against rival motorcycle clubs.
The Blue Springs attack happened on September 17, 2022, when Smith and roughly a dozen other members of the club and its support club allegedly chased down a lone rival gang member and ran him off the road, according to FOX4 Kansas City. The group confronted the man roadside and assaulted him; he was shot seven times, sustaining wounds to his knee, thigh, forearm, biceps, buttocks and the back of his leg. Reporting from The Kansas City Star similarly describes Hodge and 12 other club and support-club members as having allegedly chased and assaulted the rival that day. According to the Star, the attackers were armed with guns and at least one axe handle.
KMBC reported that a total of five people were shot that day on U.S. 40 Highway near Adams Dairy Parkway. The station later reported that Blue Springs police publicly linked the club to the shooting only after federal authorities charged 18 Pagan's members with crimes tied to it, and that 13 people were charged together in one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering over the September 17 assault.
Grand Jury Indictment and the Charges Against Smith and Fisher
Smith and Fisher were indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2024. A jury found Smith guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Fisher was found guilty of attempted assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering.
The indictment described Pagan's as a violent criminal organization engaged in racketeering and illegal drug trafficking, and alleged that the group protected its territory from rival clubs through violence and intimidation. KMBC reported that prosecutors accused Pagan's members of using violence and intimidation specifically to protect territory and eliminate competition, with the federal accusations stemming from several incidents between 2022 and 2023. The indictment named the Hells Angels, Outlaws, El Forastero and Sons of Silence among the rival clubs involved.
A Planned Attack in Topeka That Fell Apart
Court records cited in the case also describe a separate, earlier episode involving Fisher. Per the Department of Justice news release, Fisher and other Pagan's members and support-club members traveled to Topeka, Kansas, on September 3, 2022, for a planned retaliation attack. Group members discussed using an axe handle or firearm against a rival gang member, but the plan fell apart after an internal dispute broke out when a rival was spotted in a hotel parking lot, and the group abandoned the assault.
The investigation into the broader case was conducted jointly by the FBI, the Independence Police Department and the Blue Springs Police Department.
Other Pagan's Members Already Sentenced
Smith and Fisher's convictions are the latest in a string of federal cases against Pagan's members tied to the same pattern of alleged violence. Brandon S. Hodge, who the Star reported was a Pagan's prospect at the time of the Blue Springs assault and received a club patch for participating, pleaded guilty and received 57 months in federal prison without parole, according to the Star. KMZU also reported on Hodge's sentencing in the same case.
Separately, a Department of Justice release states that Mark A. Cottman, also known as “One Shot,” 51, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 110 months in federal prison without parole for assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and a firearm offense, according to a Department of Justice announcement. The FBI's Kansas City field office has also reported that Bryan S. Fletcher, known as “Fletch,” 49, of Kansas City, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his involvement in an armed assault against a member of a rival motorcycle club, per the FBI's Kansas City field office.
A Department of Justice release states that Smith was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, as well as discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, according to a Department of Justice statement on the case.
