Bristol County Sheriff’s Office helps arrest regional president of Outlaws Motorcycle Club

BOSTON – The regional president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club was arrested late yesterday and charged with illegal firearms possession.

Bruce Sartwell, a/k/a “Monster,” 48, of East Bridgewater, was charged in a criminal complaint with possession of an unregistered firearm. Following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston, Sartwell was detained pending a probable cause and detention hearing.

As alleged in charging documents, Sartwell is the Regional President of the Brockton/East Bridgewater Chapters of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. According to records, Sartwell is a convicted felon, and thus prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition. On Oct. 19, 2019, agents intercepted a package originating in China and addressed to Sartwell that was declared as a “Fuel Filter” but actually contained a firearm silencer. A review of importation records revealed that Sartwell had received approximately 65 shipments from Asia (over 55 of those from China), many of which were labeled as innocuous items that could have been more easily and cheaply purchased in the United States.

On Oct. 30, 2019, a search warrant executed at Sartwell’s residence resulted in the recovery of an AR-15 styled “ghost gun” – a firearm without any manufacturing or serial numbers – and firearm manufacturing tools and assembly parts including milling equipment, buffer spring, buffer tube, air-powered water dremel polish and a drill press. Two firearm silencers concealed in false bottom compartments, a guide for assembly and disassembly of an AR-15 rifle, 20 knives, a black powder handgun, a flare gun, and various ammunition compatible with the AR-15 styled rifle were also found. In the basement of the house, a floor-length mirror concealed the entrance to a hidden storage area that was found to contain a safe with silencer parts and a firearm assembly instruction book.

The charge of possession of an unregistered firearm provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Jason Molina, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Kelly Brady, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, New England Field Division made the announcement today. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Customs and Boarder Protection; Massachusetts State Police; East Bridgewater Police Department; Bristol County Sheriff’s Office; and the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency provided assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linsey Weinstein of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.