The event sounded innocuous enough. Motorcycle enthusiasts cruise the Lower Keys for the End of the Road Toy Run, stopping at local bars, restaurants and veterans groups to collect Christmas toys donated for needy children. Motorcycle clubs have held similar charitable toy drives for decades nationwide, including in the Florida Keys.
But this particular ad (in a newspaper other than the Keys Weekly) prompted significant concern from Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay when he learned which biker groups are behind the End of the Road Toy Run, slated for Dec. 2.
The Pagan’s Motorcycle Club and Legend Motorcycle Club, identified in the ad as PMC and LMC are “listed by the Department of Justice as criminal and outlaw motorcycle gangs,” Ramsay said in a video posted to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. on Oct. 24. (The erroneous apostrophe in Pagan’s is theirs, not ours.)
“At face value, it sounded like something really good,” Ramsay says in the video that had been viewed more than 1,500 times in seven hours. “But looking closer … both are criminal, outlaw motorcycle gangs involved in crimes involving drugs, guns and violence in our community. We’ve arrested six Pagans in recent years in our county for crimes involving methamphetamine, drugs, guns and violence.
“These are not good, just, upright people,” Ramsay continues in the video. “They’re trying to associate themselves with good people to get a foothold in our community and make you think they’re good people. But they’re not.”
He ends the video by saying he wants to make sure individuals and businesses know who they’re dealing with so they can make an educated decision if approached to partner with the groups in the toy drive.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is good versus bad. There are great organizations we can team up with. This is not one of them. So be aware. Thank you, friends,” Ramsay says.
The full video is at https://fb.watch/nTXpQDGI7Y/.
Past Pagan problems
The Keys Weekly last spoke with Sheriff Ramsay about the Pagan’s back in February 2022 about a spate of arrests deputies made over two weeks involving three members of the Pagan’s in the Lower Keys and Key West.
All three suspects had illegal guns, police said. Two of them were prohibited from owning firearms due to prior felony convictions and one was carrying a concealed weapon without a license. All three had drugs — 2 to 12 grams of cocaine each and 4 grams of a crystal-like white powder that the suspect said was “Molly,” slang for the drug MDMA, also called Ecstasy.
The club’s presence in the Lower Keys was nothing new last year, and isn’t new this year despite the current toy drive concern.
In February 2022 Ramsay described the three arrests more as a coincidence than a concerted effort by a biker gang to infiltrate a small community like the Florida Keys.
“All three arrestees (in February 2022) — two of them are Key West locals and one was in town for the Pagan’s annual meeting on Big Pine Key — had guns and drugs on them, which means our guys now treat the group’s members as armed and dangerous,” Ramsay said at the time.
The club has been coming to Big Pine for years for an annual membership meeting.
“This is nothing new,” Ramsay said. “They have a barbecue and recruit members at an annual barbecue and stay at Lower Keys hotels, which is fine as long as they’re peaceful, and we generally haven’t had problems with them.
“Like the mob, outlaw motorcycle gangs don’t want to draw attention to themselves or to any criminal enterprises occurring within them,” Ramsay said. “And I do believe drug sales are a coordinated enterprise within the Pagan’s. It’s organized crime and I’ll give them as much attention as they demand. I want them and our citizens to know they’re not going to intimidate law enforcement.”
Ramsay pointed out that most Pagan’s are on their best behavior while they’re here. And most — but not all — are smart enough to realize there’s only one road out of the Keys, he said.
“We have stinger spike strips along the highway every seven miles. I can get deputies positioned in front of someone long before they reach the mainland. If they want attention, I’ll give them plenty of attention,” Ramsay said.
