Ex-Hells Angels boss in Fresno helped cremate victim. Should he get maximum term?

A former president of the Fresno Hells Angels, who is known for leading an annual holiday toy drive for disadvantaged kids in the city, wants a reduced sentence after he was convicted of helping cremate the body of a biker who ran afoul of the outlaw biker club in 2014.

Merl Hefferman faces sentencing on obstruction of justice charges in San Francisco federal court on Thursday. He has numerous friends and family members supporting his plea for a 30-month sentence — one calling him the best friend that they have ever had.

But federal prosecutors say Hefferman’s public persona belies a sinister side, and that he helped dispose of not only the victim, Joel Silva, but also three other bodies, with the help of an employee of the Yost and Webb Funeral Home in Fresno. They want him in federal prison for more than seven years. Hefferman was not convicted in the disappearances of the other three missing Hells Angels.

Officials at Yost and Webb could not be reached to comment on the case.

Hefferman’s role is part of a larger murder and racketeering case filed in 2017 against Hells Angels leaders in Northern California and the East Coast. Some of the club’s top leaders were indicted, including Ray Ray Foakes of the Sonoma Chapter and Christopher Ranieri of the Boston-Salem, Massachusetts, Chapter.

Victim crossed Angel leadership

Silva, the murder victim, reportedly ran afoul of East Coast Hells Angels during the Laconia, New Hampshire, bike week in 2014, earning him a death sentence when he was lured to the Fresno Chapter’s headquarters on South G Street. There, he was shot by then-Fresno Hells Angel president Brian Wayne Wendt of Tulare. Santa Rosa Angels Jonathan Nelson and Russell Taylor Ott were also convicted of the slaying.

That led to the need to dispose of Silva’s body.

In court documents, prosecutors say Hefferman had become acquainted with Levi Phipps, then-crematory manager at Yost and Webb, where Phipps stated Hefferman was “fascinated” with the crematory and said that “someday “ he wanted to “make something disappear.”

On July 14 of 2014, the morning after Silva’s murder, court documents say Hefferman called Phipps and told him to be at the crematory. Later in the morning, two men arrived and one pulled a gun on Phipps before putting Silva’s body in the burner. Hefferman called Phipps the next day and told him not to talk about the incident..

Phipps told a federal grand jury that Hefferman personally brought a body to the crematorium several months later. Prosecutors, citing phone records, allege that the body was that of Robbie Huff, one of the two men who earlier helped bring Silva’s body for disposal. Prosecutors also cited phone records in alleging that Hefferman played a role in the disposal of former Hells Angel Art Carasis in July 2016 and another Angel identified by Hefferman’s attorney James A. Bustamante, but not prosecutors, as Juan Guevara.

Closure for victim’s family

Although federal probation officials recommended less prison time than the 87 months, prosecutors argue that the maximum term is justified, and cite Silva’s family, who say they waited for days on end for Joel Silva to call home.

“We were unable to have a proper burial for Joel and have no place to visit one,” said an unnamed relative in court documents.

Added prosecutors: “One of the most chilling aspects of this crime is that at the same time Joel Silva was making arrangement to have a birthday party for his 15-year-old daughter, Hefferman was making arrangements to cremate his body.”

Bustamante argued that Hefferman has met all court conditions since he was arrested, and that it is the first time he has been convicted of a crime. Bustamante described Phipps, the Yost and Webb crematory manager, as an unreliable witness who could not pass an FBI polygraph test. And he said prosecutors would have indicted Hefferman for the other three disappearances had he been more credible.

A brutal upbringing?

He added that Hefferman was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of his father, who threw him out of a window at 6 months old, rupturing one of his kidneys; and that his stepfather beat him with a belt and punched him in the face.

Bustamante said Hefferman was later homeless in downtown Fresno at a young age before being befriended by the late Mike McGarvin, founder of the Poverello House. Toys and bikes are always brought to the Poverello House at F and Santa Clara Streets in downtown Fresno during Hefferman’s holiday season toy run.

Bustamante also said Hefferman suffers from “a myriad” of health issues, including lymphoma.

Hefferman’s friend Michael Thompson calls Hefferman a community leader who works tirelessly to help assemble 3,000 bicycles for kids every year. Another friend, Tim Patendis, says Hefferman is a special person who has helped thousands of thousands of children with his “incredible generosity.”