BILLINGS – A 46-year-old Livingston man is one of 27 members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang charged with participating in a criminal enterprise.
John “Bull” Banthem was arrested Tuesday and arraigned in Billings. The indictment, filed in Virginia, alleges the Outlaws engaged in violence to expand their influence and gain control against rival motorcycle gangs.
Court records say Banthem is president of a new Montana chapter of the Outlaws. He was arrested in Iowa on June 8 after officers found he had five pounds of marijuana and two guns. He posted bond and was released.
The indictment said that during an April meeting in North Carolina, one of the Outlaws’ regional bosses talked about an upcoming function in Bozeman and “described how every member of the Montana chapter has a medical marijuana card and access to high grade marijuana.”