PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The local president and another member of the Gypsy Jokers Outlaw Motorcycle Club were convicted of a brutal 2015 kidnapping and murder of a former club member.
Mark Leroy Dencklau and Chad Leroy Erickson were found guilty of murdering Robert Huggins and dumping his body in a field near Ridgefield in Clark County. Huggins was beaten and tortured after he was kidnapped from a Portland residence.
Huggins suffered a fractured skull, injuries to his head and face, chest and torso lacerations and his nipples were cut off. The medical examiner ruled Huggins was killed by “multiple blunt and sharp force injuries.”
He was killed after he allegedly stole from the club, broke into Dencklau’s home in Woodburn, tied up his girlfriend and stole multiple guns. Dencklau then told other Gypsy Jokers members to find Huggins.
Dencklau — who was the chapter president from 2003 until his arrest — and Erickson were arrested in 2018 along with 4 other men: Earl Deverle Fisher of Gresham, Tiler Evan Pribbernow of Portland, Ryan Anthony Negrinelli of Gresham, Joseph Duane Folkerts of Battle Ground and Kenneth Earl Hause of Portland.
Prosecutors said Fisher, Negrinelli, Folkerts and Pribbernow all previously pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and are awaiting sentencing. They face a maximum of life in prison.
Dencklau and Erickson also face mandatory minimum sentences of life in prison. They were found guilty of murder in aid of racketeering; kidnapping in aid of racketeering, resulting in death; kidnapping resulting in death; and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, resulting in death.
Dencklau was also convicted of racketeering conspiracy.
“Organized crime will not be tolerated in the District of Oregon. Dencklau, Erickson and other members of the Gypsy Joker Outlaw Motorcycle Club prided themselves in using violence to intimidate others and bolster their sense of power and influence,” said the Acting US Attorney for Oregon Scott Erik Asphaug. “The kidnapping, torture, and murder of Robert Huggins was a gruesome example of the lengths these men were willing to go to exert their authority over rivals and perceived enemies.”
The US Attorney’s Office in Oregon also said:
“According to court documents and trial testimony, the GJOMC is a hierarchical criminal organization wherein members and associates maintain their position and status in the organization by participating in, directly or indirectly, various acts of violent racketeering activity including murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, narcotics trafficking, and witness tampering. Since the 1980s, the club has been active in several states including Oregon and Washington and, until recently, operated six clubhouses in the Pacific Northwest. The club also has international chapters in Germany, Australia, and Norway.”
