Leader of motorcycle gang will spend his life in federal prison for meth trafficking operation

Christopher Baker, who lives in Wake County, is a leader within the Pagan Motorcycle Club, recognized by federal officials as an outlaw motorcycle gang. He was sentenced Friday to 75 years in federal prison for trafficking methamphetamine.

Baker, 49, who is one of 20 men and women charged with dozens of drug and weapons crimes, had a drug trafficking network that spanned multiple states, officials said.

Of the 19 others sentenced as part of the federal operation, 12 are Pagan members, said Mike Easley, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

On Friday, Easley said Baker has been stripped of his patches, his colors and his motorcycle.

"He will never feel the open road bikers have everyday ... he will spend the rest of his life in federal prison," Easley said.

In addition to trafficking 100% pure meth -- a purity officials said they have not seen in this area in years -- Easley said Baker ordered the deaths of two people and the torturing of a prospective member of the Pagan gang who stole from another member. Officials said Baker ordered the man's fingers to be cut off with a saw while other Pagan members watched. Raleigh police and federal officials intervened to prevent the two deaths.

Officials also seized 49 weapons used in Baker's operation, including two fully automatic machine guns, which were on display at Friday's news conference along with photos of evidence, including helmets with swastikas, a known hate symbol.

Baker does not face any hate crime charges.

Social media accounts show all of the suspects are part of a rival biker group.

The five men charged with murder in connection to Padilla's death all face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Arrest warrants state each man is accused of stealing a jacket valued at $200, using a handgun to shoot Padilla and conspiring "with four other defendants to commit felony of the robbery of dangerous weapon."

This isn't the first time biker gang violence has spilled over in the Triangle area or turned deadly.

The Red Devils were also involved in a shoot out in Fayetteville in 2022, in which six people were shot and three were killed on Owen Drive.

Police said the Red Devils were involved, alongside the Hells Angels, the Infamous Riders and La Familia.