Will third time be the charm for Ray Foakes? Ex-Hells Angels president moves for pretrial release from jail, again

SAN FRANCISCO — A week before his 58th birthday, a prominent member of the Hells Angels is trying, once again, to free himself from Santa Rita Jail while he faces unresolved charges of maiming, assault, witness intimidation and racketeering.

Raymond “Ray Ray” Foakes, of Rohnert Park, has already tried and failed twice to get a federal judge to reconsider a 2018 court order that keeps him in jail until he’s convicted or acquitted. Foakes’ attorneys have argued release is warranted because he’s spent three years in jail, with no end in sight, as his trial date is perpetually postponed.

Attorneys for Foakes, in their latest motion, filed this week, didn’t shy away from Foakes criminal past, which includes several violations on pretrial releases in other cases, multiple felony convictions, and uncharged allegations that he started the infamous River Run Riot in Laughlin, Nevada, by assaulting a rival biker club member.

Federal prosecutors have successfully opposed Foakes’ release in the past by arguing he is both a danger to the community and liable to flee the area if he’s freed from jail. Foakes is a former president of the Hells Angels’ Sonoma chapter.

“It is primarily Foakes criminal record, his poor record on parole, probation, pre-trial supervision and supervised release that supported the court’s original finding that Foakes is a danger to the community, a flight risk, and that no condition of release could reasonably assure community safety and his appearance in court,” attorney George Boisseau wrote in the defense motion. “A closer analysis of his record, however, shows that the risk to the community can be mitigated if not completely eliminated by conditions of house arrest and electronic monitoring. And, given Foakes’ substantial community ties and support in the community, he is not a flight risk.”

Prosecutors haven’t yet responded to the motion.

During his years of pretrial incarceration, Foakes secured a $500,000 bond for a temporary release to see his terminally ill mother, but she died before that came to fruition, Boisseau wrote. If he’s released it will be to a residence in Oakley.

Foakes was one of a dozen Hells Angels members charged in 2017 with various crimes related to the outlaw biker gang’s alleged criminal activities. His co-defendants are accused of murdering a fellow club member and were investigated for the still-unsolved disappearances of two others, but Foakes himself isn’t charged with homicides. Rather, he’s accused of a brutal beating, sexually assaulting the wife of a club member, and threatening her not to report the assault to authorities.

Boisseau wrote that Foakes “categorically denies maiming another or sexually assaulting anyone,” and that prosecutors are bolstering the unproven allegations to keep him in jail.

“The sexual assault allegations were in fact part of the original petition to violate his supervised release but ultimately dismissed after Foakes admitted associating with other Hell’s Angels, a violation of his supervised release (in another case),” Boisseau wrote, adding that by doing so Foakes gave up his opportunity to refute the allegations.

During the four years since the first indictment was filed, federal prosecutors have repeatedly dragged their feet on releasing the identities of certain eyewitnesses in the case — even to defense attorneys — and voiced concerns that the defense will leak confidential information that could hamper the case. The latest such vocalization came Friday when the lead prosecutor accused a defense lawyer of leaking “attorney eyes only” material in a public motion that a magistrate eventually sealed.

“This is not the first time that members of the defense have noticed motions with little notice or adherence to the local rules,” three assistant U.S. attorneys wrote in the motion.