Providence Hells Angels leader to be sentenced to 5 years in prison for shooting
The leader of Rhode Island's Hells Angels chapter is set to serve five years in prison for a 2019 shooting involving a former prospective club member.
The state agreed to dismiss some charges stemming from the shooting in exchange for 30-year-old Joseph Lancia's nolo contendere plea to felony assault and carrying a gun without a license.
Judge Kristin Rodgers said that at his sentencing next month, Lancia would receive 15 years at the Adult Correctional Institutions, with five to serve and the rest being suspended with probation. But the time to be served is contingent on whether he avoids trouble until then and shows up to court on time.
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Bullet found in car door
The June 2019 shooting occured outside the Providence Hells Angels clubhouse on Wendell Street in the West End when a former prospective member drove by in a truck. An attorney for the state said there had been a disagreement between Lancia and the driver.
Lancia, "while standing on the sidewalk, drew a .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun and fired one shot at the truck," the attorney general's office said. "Following the shooting, the victim continued to drive away, turning his truck onto Messer Street, while the defendant walked inside the clubhouse."
The bullet was found in the passenger side door of the truck. The victim dropped his truck off at his workplace and contacted state police, who raided the clubhouse.
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Prosecutors said that following the shooting, another Hells Angels member, Lance Imor, drove to the clubhouse in a black Tesla sedan, went into the building and emerged with a tinfoil container, which he placed in his car. State police investigators later searched the car and discovered that the container held a DVR with footage of the shooting.
The state dismissed some charges against Imor for concealing a felony in consideration of his nolo contendere plea to drug possession, for which he's being sentenced to four years at the ACI, all of which is to be suspended with probation.
Separately, Lancia will be sentenced for a February 2020 assault at the Cadillac Lounge, a Providence strip club where a fight broke out between employees and Hells Angels members, culminating in Lancia knocking a person out.
Lancia is to be given a concurrent sentence of three years with one year to serve and the remainder suspended with probation, meaning that between his two violent crimes, he will serve a total of five years.
Lancia's attorney, Joseph Voccola, told The Providence Journal that his client "thought it was in his best interest to dispose of the case in the fashion in which it's being done."
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence Hells Angels leader faces 5-year sentence for shooting
