A Hells Angel who organized several toy runs for kids was busted for organizing the illegal cremation of four people, according to the FBI.
Merl Hefferman is facing a lengthy prison sentence after pleading guilty to obstructing justice for his involvement in a racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder indictment filed in 2017.
Northern District of California prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Hefferman admitted to organizing the cremation of Joel Silva after he was murdered in 2014.
Prosecutors argued the Hells Angels member “caused immense pain to Silva’s family” after they were left with no body to mourn and “no closure”.
They wrote that Silva had been planning his daughter’s 15th birthday at the organization’s Fresno clubhouse when he was murdered.
In an impact statement, his mother wrote that his death “impacted us to the point of sleepless nights, nightmares and a huge financial loss for myself and daughter-in-law Stacy Silva”.
The crematory manager of Yost & Webb Funeral Home in Fresno testified that Hefferman had become “fascinated with the crematory” and requested to be given a set of keys in case he needed to make “something disappear” someday.
Levi Phipps claimed the man called him the day after Silva’s murder saying he had “better be” at the crematory before two men, including one identified as Hefferman’s stepson, brought Silva’s body to be cremated.
Phipps also alleged he was threatened with a gun until he agreed to incinerate the body, and Hefferman followed up with a menacing phone call warning him to keep quiet about what he had witnessed.
The funeral director claimed three more illegal cremations took place at his funeral home in a similar manner.
Hefferman later facilitated the cremation of a former Hells Angels member identified as Robbie Huff, who disappeared in February 2015.
Prosecutors allege Huff had been involved in Silva’s murder and the following cover-up plot.
Phipp’s phone records showed that Hefferman called him several times on the day Huff went missing, and he claimed the Hells Angel “personally delivered” the remains.
A third body was brought to the crematory after July 7, 2016, when Art Carasis was last seen at the Hells Angels Clubhouse in Fresno. A fourth body was cremated but the identity of the victim has not been publicly disclosed.
All four bodies are believed to have been murdered. Prosecutors have requested the judge sentence Heffernan to more than seven years in prison.
The man’s lawyer wrote in his personal recommendations that Hefferman had a “tumultuous and violent upbringing” and was thrown out of a second-story window and two flights of stairs when he was barely six months old.
James Bustamante wrote: “When Mr. Hefferman was seven years old, he came home from school to find his stepfather dragging his mother around the house by her hair. His stepfather then pulled out a gun and shot at Mr. Hefferman four times.
“As a result of this incident, Mr. Hefferman packed up his belongings, including a sleeping bag, and left home.”
Friends wrote character letters to the judge describing the Hells Angel’s charitable efforts, noting he organized several toy runs for children over the years.
Bustamante requested a 2 and a half-years sentence, pointing out that Hefferman had complied with all court’s requirements following his arrest in 2018.
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