PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The suspected leader of a local biker gang entered a change of plea Thursday on several charges.
Deric McGuire, 38, who’s believed to be the president of the Pagan motorcycle gang, pleaded guilty to nine counts including cocaine possession, firearm possession, conspiracy, and giving a false statement.
As part of the plea deal, he was sentenced to 20 years with 10 to serve and the rest suspended.
The judge said McGuire will receive credit for time served at the ACI and home confinement dating back to 2018.
A case against his wife was also dismissed as part of the deal.
Watch: Attorney General Peter Neronha on McGuire’s sentencing (Story continues below)
In 2018, Rhode Island State Police, along with federal and local authorities, arrested 50 people and seized 53 illegal guns in what officials believed to be the single largest takedown in state police history.
McGuire was among those arrested. He was charged with 221 counts related to drugs, firearms and fraud.
The arrests were made during a “coordinated series of pre-dawn raids,” following a year-long investigation called Operation Patched Out, which focused on motorcycle gangs operating in northwestern Rhode Island.
