GILROY
Gilroy’s motorcycle maven Rey Sotelo appeared in federal court Monday for allegedly conspiring with a central California chop shop and the judge continued the hearing until May, according to court records and U.S. Attorney Laurel Montoya.
In the mean time, attorneys for both sides will file motions until mid-May and continue to review evidence and paper work until Sotelo returns to the federal court 2 p.m., May 26.
“Nothing earth-shattering happened,” Montoya wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. “The motions that can be easily disposed of will be heard (May 26), and if additional time and/or an evidentiary hearing is required, the new hearing will be set on that date as well.”
Sotelo has yet to enter a plea, but has told South Valley Newspapers he is innocent and had no idea the motorcycle shop was trying to illegally export a stolen Harley-Davidson to Scandinavia. The bike in question never made it across the Atlantic Ocean, but Sotelo has been charged with conspiracy after state and federal law officers arrested him July 15 in Gilroy for allegedly helping to counterfeit the bike’s official papers.
Eight other men throughout Stanislaus County were also arrested that morning for allegedly associating with the Road Dog Cycle in Denair, southeast of Modesto. Federal prosecutors have used a grand jury’s findings to indict a total of 11 men, including five with law enforcement connections.
