Target of Hells Angels sting was Wills campaign donor

A Kirkland motorcycle-shop owner arrested in a regional sting of Hells Angels gang members was a donor to the failed re-election campaign of Seattle City Councilwoman Heidi Wills, and has been questioned in an investigation into the so-called "Strippergate" scandal.

Jeffrey Carney, 42, owner of CyclPath Motorcycle and Machine in Kirkland, gave the Wills campaign $600, nearly the maximum allowed by election laws, on the same day that strip-club owner Frank Colacurcio Jr. and several of his associates donated similar amounts to the campaigns of Wills and council members Judy Nicastro and Jim Compton.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler released Carney from federal detention yesterday after prosecutors agreed that Carney has severed his ties to the Hells Angels and has been cooperative with federal agents.

Carney still must travel to Nevada, where he is indicted along with 41 other members or associates of the notorious biker gang.

Prosecutors allege that Carney was part of a large group of Hells Angels who brawled with members of the rival Mongol motorcycle gang in a casino in Laughlin, Nev., in April 2002. Gunfire was exchanged and three men died. Dozens were injured.

Carney was arrested peacefully at his home in Juanita on Wednesday as part of a simultaneous series of raids on Hells Angels clubhouses and homes in five Western states.

The indictment charges that the Hells Angels is a sophisticated organization that targeted the Mongols to keep that group out of its drug business and other enterprises.

Convictions could cost the men up to 20 years behind bars.

In court yesterday, Carney's lawyer, John Lundin of Seattle, said Carney quit associating with the Hells Angels about a year ago, soon after the Laughlin melee. Lundin portrayed Carney as a bystander to the brawl.

"I'm convinced that when all the evidence comes out, he'll be found to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time," Lundin said. "He's anxious to get down there (to Nevada) and clear his name."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman, though, said that Carney was an active participant. "He did engage in physical fighting with the Mongols," Gorman said "This defendant was not a bystander."

Agents seized 14 guns from Carney's home when he was arrested, Gorman said. The judge ordered that he turn over two other firearms that agents missed.

According to public elections records, on March 27 Carney donated $600 to the unsuccessful re-election campaign of Seattle City Councilwoman Heidi Wills.

The same day, strip-club owner Frank Colacurcio Jr. and several Colacurcio Jr. associates all donated to Wills' campaign.

The donations became an election-year controversy dubbed "Strippergate,' which involved more than $36,000 in donations to Wills, Nicastro and Compton before the City Council approved a rezone of Colacurcio Jr.'s strip club, Rick's, on Lake City Way. The rezone allowed the club eight additional parking spaces.

Only Compton was re-elected in November.

Investigators with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission questioned Carney about his contribution, a source familiar with the inquiry said yesterday. Carney said he gave to the Wills campaign because he "thought it was a good idea," the source said. Carney told the investigators that he was not reimbursed.

Carney's check was not one of those returned by Wills.

The commission has been examining whether Colacurcio Jr. associates were reimbursed for their donations to the political coffers. That's against city election laws.

Two sisters, for example, have told the commission that their mother, a Colacurcio Jr. employee, paid them back for making $2,300 in donations.

Carney's businesses have all been in Kirkland, and he apparently has no business interests in Seattle, according to public-record searches.

Carney's wife, Linda, said yesterday that her husband "is not a friend" of Colacurcio Jr. But she declined to comment whether he knows Colacurcio Jr. at all.

Wills did not return phone messages.

Colacurcio Jr., when asked about Carney yesterday, said, "I'm not talking to reporters."

Colacurcio Jr.'s attorney, John Wolfe, said last night that it would be inappropriate to comment on whether his client has any ties to Carney because Colacurcio Jr. is not the subject of an investigation.

Ian Ith: 206-464-2109 or iith@seattletimes.com

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com