Snitches apparently are not a dying breed. No sir, it seems that after doing their best to destroy motorcycle clubs, they go into hiding and write books about their exploits. Books in which they can present themselves in any light they choose, make up as many stories as they wish and generally present their slimy approach as somewhat heroic. George Rowe is the latest of these snitches to write a book, although given his self-confessed illiteracy, it is highly unlikely he wrote it himself, but rather told it to a ghost writer who has wisely chosen to remain anonymous. Good call.
A publicist for the book claims that George Rowe’s gritty and harrowing story offers not only, “a glimpse into the violent world of the motorcycle outlaw, but a gripping tale of self-sacrifice and human redemption that would be the stuff of great fiction—if it weren’t all true.” Rowe had been a drug dealer, crystal meth addict, barroom brawler, bare knuckle fighter and convicted felon, but when he witnessed the Vagos brutally and senselessly beat his friend over a pool game, and then allegedly murder him later, everything changed.
For George Rowe it became payback time, and so he volunteered himself as an undercover informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and vowed to dismantle the brotherhood from the inside out, becoming history’s first private citizen to voluntarily infiltrate an outlaw motorcycle gang for the U.S. government.
As a full-patched member of the Vagos, Rowe spent three brutal years juggling a double life, riding, fighting, and nearly dying alongside the brothers whom he secretly hoped to put away for good. Much of this book is about George – no surprise there – and much of it covers his relationship with a lunatic drug addict and sexually promiscuous girl Jenna. As a portrait of a total fuck-up Jenna fits the bill. As a loser, so does George who married her.
Well the big takedown day finally came in 2006 when over 700 police and operatives from various government agencies swooped on the club in what was known as “Operation Green”. The grand total: 25 leaders and associates arrested. Money seized: $6000. Goods seized: Two stolen motorcycles. Money spent on the investigation, millions. And unbelievably, the RICO Act was never used because the U.S. Attorney’s Office lacked the manpower to handle the number of defendants Operation Green had generated.
If you want to read a book about the Vagos, about the life and times of the Green brotherhood, and about the president for 27 years, pick up my book about Terry the Tramp. –K. Ball
