Fifteen members of a local motorcycle group face up to life in federal prison after most were arrested Thursday on charges of conspiring to sell cocaine and crack cocaine and illegally possessing firearms.
Federal authorities also have charged one of the defendants, all of whom belong to the Outlaw Motorcycle Club, with possessing and receiving child pornography images.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Poole said the arrests came as the result of a 2 1/2 year undercover investigation into the club, located at 3014 Campbell St. in Chattanooga, but he declined to say anything else about the case.
Agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives led the investigation with other local law enforcement agencies, including Chattanooga police and the sheriffs’ offices in Hamilton and Bradley counties.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Outlaw Motorcycle Club is supported by a well-known international biker gang called the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club.