Locked In with Ian Bick - Ex-Marine Turned Motorcycle Club President | Raffaele Ruggiero

Episode Date: October 8, 2025

Raffaele Ruggiero grew up in the Bronx with an upbringing that shaped his discipline and drive. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, he found his passion for motorcycles and the brotherhood that came with it. That passion eventually led him to becoming the President of a Least of Saints Motorcycle Club chapter. In this episode, Raffaele shares his journey from military service to the motorcycle world — the discipline, the loyalty, the challenges, and what it really takes to lead. #MotorcycleClub #USMarine #BronxStories #BikerLife #OutlawCulture #VeteranStories #Brotherhood #truecrimepodcasts Thank you to BLUECHEW & PRIZEPICKS for sponsoring this episode: Visit https://bluechew.com/ and use promo code LOCKEDIN at checkout to get your first month of BlueChew & pay five bucks for shipping. Prizepicks: Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/IANBICK and use code IANBICK and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! Connect with Raffaele Ruggiero: https://www.instagram.com/raffaelearuggiero?igsh=MXJlZGdpc3V2b2F1 Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop Timestamps: 00:00 – From the Bronx Streets to Brotherhood 10:30 – Family, Hard Work & Early Life Lessons 18:40 – Teenage Rebellion & Street Temptations 27:00 – Staying Out of Trouble & Choosing the Right Path 36:15 – Joining the Marines & Learning Real Discipline 46:25 – Life in the Marine Corps: Lessons & Challenges 54:00 – Returning Home to Family & Construction Work 55:50 – The Tragedy That Rekindled His Motorcycle Passion 01:01:30 – Rediscovering Brotherhood Through Motorcycles 01:07:05 – Finding Family in a Motorcycle Club 01:13:00 – Inside Biker Culture: Traditions & Misunderstandings 01:21:05 – Leadership, Loyalty & Life Inside the Club 01:28:00 – Staying Grounded: Values, Faith & Responsibility 01:33:00 – Lessons from Club Life & Finding Christianity 01:39:00 – Second Chances & Advice for Returning Citizens 01:48:00 – Helping Others & Building a Better Society Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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From the streets of the Bronx to the battlefield as a U.S. Marine and then leading a motorcycle club as president, Rafael Ruggiero has lived a life of discipline, loyalty, and brotherhood most people will never experience. Ralph, welcome to Locked In. Thanks so much for motorcycle riding your way out here today. Is that how it's pronounced? A motorcycle riding your way out here or biking your way out? Riding, riding, right. I tried to overcomplicate it.

Yeah. Well, hey, I appreciate you having me here. You know, it's an honor to be here, actually. I've been watching the show for quite some time. And like I said, it's like, I know you, but you don't know me. I know. I know. I was looking at our Instagram DMs.

We've been talking, I think, since earlier this year. We were supposed to do this, and then I left for the beast thing, and then we reconnected, and now we're here. That's it. That's it. Where'd you grow up, Ralph? Well, I grew up in the Bronx, in Castle Hill in the Bronx. You know, it was basically a working class, blue-collar-type neighborhood.

And, yeah, I grew, I lived there almost, you know, about 20-something years, 25 years for, I ended up getting married and moving out to Jersey, you know. But, yeah, but primarily I grew up there and working class family, you know. Dad was a mom and dad were both immigrants, so I was a first generation, you know, American. And, you know, there was some, there's some bullying that gets involved with that, right? You know, I used to wear They're in fashion now, but I used to wear the black socks with the pro kids, you know? And I've seen all these kids walking around with black socks.

I'm like, yo, I was ahead of my time, you know. But, yeah, there was a whole bunch of bullying and things of that nature. But, you know, I guess you just kind of bear with it and, you know, move forward. But, you know, I'm not going to sit here and say, you know, like my life was any harder than anyone else's. It certainly wasn't. Like I said, you know, middle class family, spent a lot of time by myself, you know. My father was in construction. So we used to have the big pile of sand in the driveway all the time. And that was my playground, you know. But he was, you know, he was pretty strict with us in the sense that, you know, we had to work.

So I was going to work, you know, from what I recollect, probably about eight, nine, ten years old, somewhere around there, you know, Saturdays would go to work. You know, if I didn't want to go, my father would be like, you're a bum, you know. So it was, yeah, it was just one of those things, you know, just one of those things. And I'll tell you what, one of the, one of the, one of the, one of the memories that really affected me with, with life, and, and I kind of sensed it at the time, but as I got older, I really, like, appreciated that, that moment. We used to go do HPD work, which is housing preservation and development, right, in New York city. So we would always go into these apartments, low-income apartments, housing and all that.

And we would fix them up, right? We would fix them up, like repair floors, paint walls and what have you. So I remember one day I was with my dad or one of his workers. I was with one of his workers and, you know, we're going into this apartment and stuff. And there was a couple there with a child, you know, and this lady was, she was beautiful, Spanish lady, gorgeous, gorgeous, and she was showing me all her pictures, you know, that she used to be a model and this and that, and I was like, wow, you're beautiful, da-da-da-da, you know, and then her man came in, and this was like, you know, nobody worked, everybody was, what I found out later, you know, doing drugs, right? they were all high on drugs.

And the baby had to be about, I don't know, maybe four years old, five years old, somewhere around there. And I'm like, and that really affected me because, you know, when I got back to the truck because, you know, it was time for them to write tickets. So I had to go sit in the truck and make sure we didn't get a parking ticket. And it really affected me because I'm like, damn, you know, you're, you're, you're lot in life your success in life or the things you do in life really it's like determined sometimes where you're born like the situation you know the things become so normalized like how does how does a

kid like that surrounded by all this negativity right and drugs and what have you how did they move on in life like how do they appreciate life right how do they You know, and it was just always something that's always, always affected me, always been in the back of my mind. Don't wake up every day thinking about it, but you understand what I'm saying? It leads you to, like, really starting to have compassion for people, you know, because sometimes people aren't in control of situations, right, or circumstances. and I think that really affected me to have a little bit more compassion

and I'm not going to say there one of the times I was just a big A-hole, right? And I was, you know, everybody goes through that testosterone period and what have you and the machismo. But I guess when you start to settle off and, you know, you really think about that stuff, you know. and I'm, you know, I'm not like a lib or anything like that, right?

Purple hair and all that stuff. But I don't think you really have to be to have compassion for people. Yeah, I look at a lot of the guests that come on the show, and most of the time they were born into their circumstances. Granted, we all have a choice once we get to a certain age, but a lot of the actions, like a mom giving their kid heroin at eighth grade, is it the eighth grader's fault or is it the mom's fault? Exactly.

And that sets them on the path to it. addiction and then a crime. Because it becomes so normalized, right? It becomes so normalized. And honestly, like, when I watch your show and sometimes I'm like, dang, man, it's like there's such normal people, some of them, right? Like, you had a nurse on one time during COVID, right, and she got arrested for COVID, you know.

The fake vaccine cards, yeah. I want to say thank you. I probably bought one of hers. You know, because when that whole thing came out, I was like, you know, rebellious against it. It was all just a big crock. You know, I was working construction at the time. And because, you know, construction people were allowed to work, I was actually in the center, you know, the ground zero of COVID in Flushing Queens, you know. and they would show the hospital with all the police gates all around and the refrigerator trucks there. And I'm going by there.

I'm like, there's nobody here. You know, there's nobody here. And like everybody during that period died of COVID, right? You got to a motorcycle accident and COVID, you know? So it was just a big scam. But anyway, all that to say, some of the guests are just so relatable, you know? like you could see yourself in life's circumstances getting arrested, right? Getting, getting caught up, right?

Catching a case, right? And all that. So, yeah, so, you know, I grew up on Castle Hill. We went to a, we went to Catholic school, you know. My parents sacrificed to send us to Catholic school. And I was very, you know, I was a mischievous kid in Catholic school. not very, I wouldn't say I was undiscipline, but I wasn't like bad, bad, quote unquote bad.

You know, I wasn't getting expelled or anything like that. But, you know, I was a joker. I would fool around. I would cause disruption in the class and all that. And then I went over to Mount St. Michael High School, you know, after that. And that's where I started getting my little bit of, of rebellious streak, you know. It wasn't so much a freshman year.

But, like, my sophomore year started, you know, getting into a little bit of weed, smoking weed and all that, and on the weekends and stuff. And I just turned it to, you know, really a rebellious child at the time or a kid or whatever it was, teen. And, you know, I got, I did get suspended from school. I called out a teacher. I was ready to throw. down with him and all, you know, and I just had a lot of anger, had a lot of anger issues, you know,

and, you know, I guess I could pretend I'm like Oprah and just blame my parents, right, for the upbringing. But then eventually, like you said, you got to take accountability for your actions and all. But, yeah, during that, during those, you know, those high school years, very, very rebellious, getting into all sorts of trouble, trying different drugs and what have you. You know, by senior year, we were doing Coke and all that.

And one of the things about growing up in the Bronx is, you know, you're, and I'm sure anybody who was born in the Five Burroughs or, you know, like Bridgeport, let's say, right, could kind of relate to it. It's like criminal activity, illegal activity is kind of normalized, right? We used to hang out in, you know, Italian coffee shops, and the guys would be gambling in the back with the joke of poker and all that.

And, you know, every once in a while the cops would come in, and they would, you know, they would hit and raid like 10 different coffee shops all that. And everybody knew what was going to happen. And, you know, they got their. their newspaper article and what have you, you know, and it just was so normalized, so normalized, you know, doing little crimes and little criminal activity. You know, we would sometimes get counterfeit money and what have you. And, you know, I think back then it was like $20, you get $100 in counterfeit money, you know. hopefully I'm, uh, I'm, uh, I'm clear.

The feds aren't going to come knocking at my door. But, uh, yeah, I mean, it's just things are, things of that nature, you know, and the, the, uh, forgazy sweatsuits and the, the, the fargazy chains and all that stuff. And everybody's buying, selling. So it was very, it was very, very, uh, normalized to, to, to, to do that kind of activity, you know. And I think growing up back then, it was a little different because it stayed in the neighborhood. Right. What happened in the neighborhood stayed in the neighborhood, right?

Like you got into a fight, you got into a brawl. There was no phone cameras. There was no cameras in the sky and all that. And things happened. And you just didn't rat, you know? Somebody in my, I don't see nothing. I don't know what happened. You know, I feel like today that's a little bit different.

You find that at all? Yeah, I mean, everyone's pulling out a phone. What I find surprising is that someone will, a crime will be happening. And the first instinct people have is to pull out the phone to capture it, rather than maybe go help that person that's in trouble. Exactly. They just stand kind of idle, but they're quick to pull out the phone to capture it. Exactly, you know.

I mean, sad to say about that lady on the train who got murdered. I mean, they stood there recording it and other people just sat there doing nothing. Yeah, no one rushed to her aid to apply pressure on the wound or anything. Yeah. I was shocked. I don't even know what to say about as far as like what that condition is, why we become so conditioned to ignore violence or suffering or even to lend the hand.

I mean, I know, you know, growing up in New York City, one of the rules when you're on the train, you don't look nobody in the face, right? You either had your sunglasses on or you always kind of avoided eye contact. You didn't want to smile too much, right? People think you're a tourist or something, you know, and there was always kind of that certain coldness. But, I mean, to sit there and watch somebody, you know, get murdered and not do anything, it's just, That's beyond me, you know, it's beyond me. So, anyway, so, you know, like I said, the high school was a very rebellious, rebellious years,

you know, all sorts of mischievous things that we did. And they would be classified as criminal today, you know. And that's why, you know, I kind of relate where you have a lot of these guests. And I'm like, dang, man, I could have caught a case. I could have been in trouble, you know. And this kind of really shaped me into now and the things that I'm doing now. You know, you kind of go through life and you get married and you raise a family and you're really focused on work and progressing and providing for the family.

but then you get into a leadership role and you really start to understand where you're working with all sorts of different people, you know, people. And construction doesn't, and that's what I do now, I'm a construction super, doesn't necessarily attract, you know, the most upscale citizens, right? It's rough work. It's hard work. You know, and it doesn't matter whether it's union or non-union, right? Because now we work with all union.

But you have basically two types of people. You got guys who are just trying to provide for their family. And you got guys who just do the work because nobody else is going to hire them, you know. So anyway, I know I jumped from high school to now. But how important was working with your dad at 10 years old doing that labor? How important was that to build your character? Well, at the time, it really sucked, right? And, you know, they say two things, right?

When you're a father, there's two sets of examples that you could either be a good example or a bad example, right? Was it good that I went to work? Yeah, sometimes, right? But I think a kid should be a kid, right? Let their imagination go. And I think the more dentrumental stuff was the verbal abuse that came with it. Like, you don't call a 10-year-old kid who doesn't want to go to work, a bum, lazy, you know, what are you going to be in life? What are you going to do in life?

And that really affected my psyche. You basically, you kind of devalue yourself, right? When somebody's telling you, you know, you're no good, you're bad, whatever, you're lazy, this, that, the other, right? So it really devalued how I viewed myself. And then I think by like senior year of high school, I was still rebellious. but it was more like up yours. I am somebody, right? I could do something in life.

I was playing sports. I was playing football. And I came back my senior year, and I might as well get it out there if anybody looks up at the high school. I went to high school with Sean Combs. Okay. Wait, you went to high school, did he?

Yeah. No way. Oh, yeah. I had a, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my claim to fame. You guys were in the same grade? Same grade, same football team. Were you guys friends?

Yeah, well, we were teammates. That's crazy. He's literally getting accepted as we record this too. You know what's kind of odd, and this is what's odd. We used to meet in Westchester Square in the Bronx. That's where you would catch the bus, and the bus would take you to Mount St. Michael, and across the street was Preston High School. and that's, you know, they would pick up the girls there,

the city school bus, and take them to Preston High School. Well, Jennifer Lopez was dating my friend David. Yeah, he was dating my friend David. And they were dating for a long time. I mean, they dated after high school and everything. I think up until about, you know, they were 22 years old. But they were dating each other. So Sean knew of, of, of,

of Jennifer Lopez, too. And, but Sean, Sean Combs was like, he was a fun guy in high school, you know. He was a fun guy. We used to, that was during the WrestleMania years and stuff like that. So, you know, we used to throw the forearms at each other against the lockers and things of that nature. There was nothing really mischievous or anything about him at the time. His mom was a single mom. but it wasn't like, you know, I've heard like, you know, he grew up in the hood and all.

He didn't grow up in the hood. He grew up in Mount Vernon, you know. Mount Vernon was somewhat of an upscale black neighborhood, right? Parts of it. That's where I got my first fade. My friend Bubba and Henry took me to a black barbershop. And he's like, oh, never cut one of your guy's hands before. I'm like, well, it was the first time for everything, right?

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Yeah. They're just normal people. They grew up normal. Unless you were born as a celebrity into a celebrity world, but he didn't get born into. to that? No, no, but I mean, look, you know, I don't want to make it a show about Sean Combs, but I feel like when he went to, when he went to college, Howard University, and he started he started promoting rap shows and what have you. So he had promoted a show, and back then, I don't know why the rap shows used to get real violent. I mean, not that, you know, I really had anything, you know, against it. We were the white kids who would wear the big gold chains and listen to NWA, you know.

It was actually kind of funny. But what happened was like a whole people, a whole bunch of people got stampeded on and got killed, you know, and he almost went to jail for it, you know. It was a lack of security and what have you. But anyway, that's kind of like my brush with fame. I had Sean Combs, right? And then I had Jennifer Lopez, and we actually went out on a double date, David, Jennifer, myself, and another girl. And we dated a couple times, and she was just a normal girl, nice girl, you know, really a nice kind, you know, at the time.

And that was it. So it's just kind of amazing to see how, you know, celebrity status changes people. and I guess you become more powerful or you just have more people kissing your A, you know, and it gets to your head. And it's kind of hard to stay humble when you have that, right? When you have all these people kissing up to you and yes people all around you, you know. But yeah, that's my brush with my brush with fame. Why do you think certain people can grow up in the same area as you and go down?

on a completely different path, more or less end up in prison or battle addiction. Because there's so many people that have come from Brooklyn, from the Bronx, those rough areas. And a lot of people might even blame that that upbringing led to, you know, prison, say. But in your case, it didn't work that way. Yeah. And during high school, we had friends, we had friends who died, you know, because of drug dealing or what have you guys who went that way. I remember Gatto, he was a stud, man.

This kid was Italian kid. He came from Italian Harlem, which is just a little enclave right next to Spanish Harlem. And he was just a stud driving, you know, whatever the hot car was back then during high school. And I'm like, oh, be careful, man. you're going to get yourself, don't get caught up, you know. He's like, I don't worry about it. I got it. It's just, you know, you get that easy money, that tastes for easy money, you know.

And just one day we didn't see him. I said, I guess he's not coming to school no more. And winter came, blah, blah, blah. And nobody heard from him. Nobody saw him. His cousin went to school with us. And then come March, when the rivers started defrost, his body came up, you know, and they found them dead.

And he was a phenomenal running back. Let me tell you, this guy was a stud, man. He could have went somewhere. You know, I have another friend whose father was in the mob. And, you know, he was another stud, awesome quarterback, phenomenal quarterback. wasn't really scholarly or anything like that. Went to college to play football and I guess we'll just pay everybody to do his homework.

You know, and he ended up quitting and going to the life. You know, going to... And from what I understand, he still is. You know, I've seen him around town quite a bit, but I guess he's still in the life. So what makes somebody go into... to it and somebody else, I think it's a moral, really a moral compass and the ability to just see a couple years ahead, right?

Because when you're a kid growing up, you really don't think that far in the future, right? We were, we were growing up during the, during the Cold War, with Russia, Mr. Gorbich, take down that, take down that wall, something like that, right? That was Ron Reagan. And so we were like, yo, there could be a nuclear war. Who the heck knows what's going to happen, you know? So it was really a strange time period. I guess maybe some people, you know, they were living it with me at the same and felt

I better get mine before it's gone, right? That's what life's about. But I was, and this is all going on in a Catholic school, quote unquote, Catholic school, right? So people thought that this only happened in public schools, right? Oh, public schools are where all the bad things happened. But no, you know, this was all happening in a Catholic school. And I think there was part of me that was just kind of like attracted to God, attracted to that religious aspect, right?

Even though I didn't like the Catholics, I didn't like the priests, I didn't like any of that. I was not a very good Catholic. You know, I would always read more of the Bible than I should, you know. And so I think that really affected me, though, where I gained somewhat of a moral compass because I never lost sight that we're all going to answer to somebody, right? We're all going to answer to God. Nowadays, it's people have gone so far away that they say there is no God, right?

But when we were growing up back in the 80s, you know, I'm talking about like I graduated high school in 87, right? So you aren't even around then. And so there was a moral compass within the country itself, right? And I'm not saying the country was perfect or anything like that, you know. But there was a moral compass. You always had the Ten Commandments at every court, right? So there was somewhat of a sense of religiosity, right? That if you wanted to and you would read it, you'd understand it.

Everybody kind of had an idea that we're going to answer to someone, right? We're going to answer to someone for what we do. Now, what that measurement was, you know, most people feel, if I do more good than bad, I'll be okay, right? And that was pretty much how people grew up. That was pretty much how people grew up. So I think that was one of the things that kept me from going. Because the opportunities were there.

There was plenty of opportunity. And even after high school, there was plenty of opportunity. I lost, you know, a lot of friends to gambling, drug addiction. So it was always there for the taking if I wanted to. But there was always just something in the back of my head that's like, don't do it, don't do it. And I tried stuff. I'm not coming out here trying to, you know, like I was a saint, holier than now. I definitely was not.

And like I said, you know, we got involved in stuff where we could have easily caught a case, you know. Just for an instance, you know, I had, and if, I don't know if the lady's going to be listening, but if you were driving a Porsche back in the 90s and country club, it wasn't me. But, you know, this lady was, cut me off, you know, cut me off. It really pissed me off. man because I was like oh because they got a Porsche they think who the hell they are and da-da-da-da so one night you know me and my me and my friends the the the Italian clan with the gold chains listening to NWA driving around in a Lincoln blasted blasting NWA and our house

speakers in the back of the Lincoln you know I said holy crap that's the Porsche right there I said pull over there was like a construction site I grabbed the cinder block and back then the 944s used to have this long glass in the back and I was like took this in the block and it was right through the back of the glass you know that's that was you know back then that was crazy that was that was you know something that but I could have got in trouble for for items like that you know and and then you just kind of numbed it with with alcohol and and what have you and we were probably mostly drinkers than anything else you know, beer and alcohol.

And there was, there was a period where we were doing, you know, cocaine and what have you and snorting Coke and all that. And it was probably mostly on the, mostly on the weekends. And there were plenty of times where I came home from the club and went straight to work. And that was, that was the funny thing because even though, you know, we were getting, getting high and getting drunk and what have you. you always had to go to work no matter what, you know. So to go back to your first question and you asked me about work, I guess that work ethic was definitely instilled in me.

And I guess the fact that I had to prove that I'm not a bum was instilled in me, that I had to go to work. I had to go to work. And I always worked. It didn't matter if it was high school, college, or what have you. I always worked, you know. Where do you go to college? So I kind of took a year off.

I took some time off. It was probably, probably, yeah, about a year or a semester or so, if I could recall. And I went to Westchester Community College, which was a great school. I know community colleges get bum raps. But it was a great school. And I took civil technology, which is basically civil engineering light, right? And it was a two-year program where you would learn to become a super, right? You learn how to run projects.

And even during that whole period, I was running a job full time. And a lot of the guys that are actually running construction, companies and sites today that I still run into, you know, went through that program and were actually in school with me. So it was a very good program. And, you know, nowadays there's kind of a big push for everybody to go back to blue collar jobs with welding and carpentry and all that. And back then it was just a natural thing, you know, it was like colleges offered it, the technical schools were there. And so we did well. We did well with it. So, yeah, the work ethic was there, even though, you know, I fooled it, you know, I got caught

up in some stuff. And the moral, the moral compass was there, right? The moral compass, even though you try to numb it and you try to bury it and what have you. you know so later on um one of my friends he was actually a year older than me he came into the program at westchester community college studying civil technology rolling costanza and uh when this podcast comes out i'm going to send it to him rolling constanza he really affected my life because he was a he was a Marine Corps sniper. I remember him in high school. He was the biggest pot head boy smoking every day and just like he had that that pot

smoking laugh, you know, that that pot smoking laugh all the time. And, and he came back and I saw him and he was just a serious person. I mean, intelligent, you know, at the time we were doing trigonometry. and stuff, and I was having some challenges with it, and he's like, the way I do trigonometry, we did it in sniper school. You have to learn, you know, the trajectory of the bullet with the distance and all. And I'm like, where'd you learn this? And he's like, the Marine Corps.

I'm like, I need some of that, man. I need some of that. There was always a drive to do something, to be better, right, that I wasn't in a lot. that I wasn't enough. I wasn't enough as a person. So there was always a drive to be better. And yeah, he really got me stoked on it. So I ended up signing up for the Marine Corps.

And this was desert storm started coming. So we were over in Iraq. And, you know, it was just like a peace mission. they call, you know. And so I signed up for that and I went in and during boot camp, I got out of boot camp, went through the boot camp process and ended up, it turned into a war, right? It's a full-blown war. And it's amazing because like sometimes I feel like my life has been a series of like a voice. death and danger, right? And I don't know if it's a guardian angel or whatever it was,

dumb luck, whatever you want to call it, it was just strange because I said it three times already, but I'll say it again, so many times where I could have been caught up, and I didn't. And in this case, we were prepared to go to war. Right. We were prepared to go to war. You joined the Marine Corps for that purpose, right? Everything you do, when you're learning self-defense, you do a strike, it's kill, kill, right? So it's ingrained in your head and you learn to follow orders. And what was funny, too, though, was like during boot camp and I loved my drill instructor, he was from Jersey.

big cocked black guy, man. He was awesome. But even back then, there was just something in me. I was like, I had that rebellious spirit. I'm like, op yours. You're not going to break me, right? You're not going to, because, you know, boot camp was a little different back then. And it's changing for the better now,

but there was a period now during this DEI and woke period where guys will pull out cards and say, I'm stressed. Oh, Lord. You would never say that in Marine Corps boot camp when I went through it. And they even said my boot camp was soft. Oh, you should have been here in the 70s or the 60s. And I mean, I'm sure we could agree that men were harder, right?

Men were harder in the 40s, the 50s. Life was harder, right? Life was harder and you had to be hard, right? So there was still that rebellious spirit, but at the same time, I still still. had like a compassion for people, a love for people. And I didn't join the Marine Corps because I wanted to go, you know, go kill people, although I knew that that would be, I may get called upon to do that. But it was really for a love of the people in my country,

right? Americans. Not the government, right? Not the government. And anybody who's been in the military or even attest to that. Yeah, you probably come out with a great dislike for the government. So, yeah, that was one of the things. And sure enough, being in the fashion of my behavior at the time, I got one of my friends to sign up with me and we were supposed to go to boot camp together. and my friend David, he was a marine recon, not force recon. He was a fleet recon. And he came to see me off. So we went out the night before.

And we got loaded. We got loaded. The van came to pick us up. And they're like, you're ready to go. If they had a match, I probably would have caught on fire, you know. and they kept me back a day for alcohol poisoning and what have you. And I was not in very good shape. I was very, you know, I was living,

I figured I was going to Marine Corps boot camp, let me eat, enjoy my Italian cheese and pasta, and I was a mess. I was a mess when I went into Marine Corps boot camp. Even heavier than I am now, you know, I'm at 20, 204 now. I think I was about 220 of Italian cottage cheese. A lot of jiggling, you know. So Marine Corps, when I came out of Marine Corps boot camp,

I was 189 pounds from 220 down to 189 pounds. And I always make a joke. I say, I was 189 pounds twice in my life. Third grade and Marine Corps boot camp, you know. And they definitely make the big, the big, smaller and the small body's bigger, you know. But it was an interesting experience, Marine Corps boot camp, being that I had an Italian mom who was deathly afraid of the ocean,

and every time we would go to Orchard Beach, right, she would just be like, don't go too far, you're going to die. You're going to die. So, you know, in order to graduate Marine Corps boot camp, you have to actually know how to swim. which I didn't. So I remember the first time climbing off the tower. You know, they take you to this pool.

It's this huge pool. It's the size of a gymnasium. And there's a huge tower. And they find out who could swim and who can't. And you're in full gear, boots, pack, like a wood rifle or something like that. And you go up on this tower about 20 feet. I'm assuming the water was probably about 20 feet deep somewhere around there. and you just walk off this towel.

Now, mind you, I don't know how to swim, but at this point, I'm just like, F it, right? Let's go. I've done, you know, you push your physical body to so much where you're like, oh, wow, I could do this, I could do that. I'm like, oh, screw it. I'll just do it and see what could happen. And I sank like a rock, like right to the bottom.

And I'm like, oh, shit. And in the back of my head, all I hear is, my Italian mother, you're going to die, you know. So that was, that was quite the experience. So I don't know how I got up. If one of the lifeguards kind of came and pulled me up or they, they threw one of the lifesavers at me with the rope. And so you get on, you swim to the side and you think somebody's going to be like,

hey, you're okay? No, they're like, you know, fat body, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you suck. Get over there. You know what I mean? It was like no comfort, anything like that. So it was kind of funny because the only thing that was really stopping me was the swim qual, you know, the swim. I couldn't pass the swim. So finally, like one week, they say, all right, all you who can't pass the swim qual, this is it.

You're going to go down. They're going to, you know, try you out again. So we got there. and they actually instructed us on how to survive in the water, right? And the secret is don't let all the air out of your lungs, right? So take half breaths. I was like, you couldn't tell me that frigging three weeks ago, you know? So take half breaths.

I ended up passing, which was great. It was me and 25 black guys, you know, who couldn't pass the swim guile. and hey stereotypes are stereotypes some of them are true right but here I was the Italian guy who couldn't pass either so we finally did make it and and I graduated and it just made me more of a you know in my mind more of a badass you know more of a badass and more more drinking more mischief and but but but with some responsibility you know some responsibility I I was starting to understand leadership roles and really, I guess, starting to mature and become a man because, you know, they would rotate squad leaders and what have you, and you start to understand leadership.

And even though, you know, it's not, it's a rough environment to learn. Some of us, that's how we learn, right? We can't deal with soft, right, or love. We got to deal with harshness, right? And they taught us, and they taught us that leadership, right? They taught us about putting people before yourself, right? Putting your team before yourself or having that consciousness about your team, right? How are they going to survive?

How are we going to get? That's your job to keep everybody alive, you know? And so this is this is all through boot camp. Then we go through what they call fifth phase boot camp. And basically it was, you know, every Marine is primarily a 0-3-11, which is infantry, right? That may not be your MOS, which is military occupational specialty. But that's the way every Marine is taught. Your first job is your infantry.

Okay. So everybody had to learn, you know, how to fight, how to set off a mortar, all these things. And that's with this fifth phase boot camp, camp devil dog they'd send you to in North Carolina. And that's where we would go through and we would learn how to, how to be infantry, go on a lot of, you know, a lot of humps, which is basically hiking with your backpacks and all that stuff. and, you know, you really learn teamwork, right? Grabbing your partner, helping them, get through the, you know, get through the hike and all that. And so that's where my leadership skills started really coming into play and starting to understand it and respect it more.

Afterwards, they send you to your MOS school, and I was a heavy, heavy equipment mechanic, which was basically worked on diesel engines for payloaders, back hose, stuff like that, and hydraulics and all that. And I would fall asleep during class. But the funny thing is, I graduated at the top of my class. You know, I graduated at the time. It just came easy for me, and I knew it. And I was elected as, uh, I, I was elected as, uh, I, I forgot the exact certificate that I got. The Band of Brothers Award, that's what it was. I was awarded the Band of Brothers Award for exemplary leadership and what have you.

So I graduated at the top of my class. It was supposed to come with an automatic promotion, but because I went into boot camp as a PFC, you have private, PFC, Lance Corporal, then Corporal, They're like, there's no way we're going to give you corporal coming out of your school, which makes sense, right, because a corporal is a non-commissioned officer, right? You just didn't have the experience to go along with it. Smart decision, but they still gave me the meritorious mass that said, you know,

that celebrating my whatever, right, that I was supposed to be a corporal, but I never got the, I never got the stripes until I went to my station. So we went through all that and, you know, all of a sudden the war, the, the war, it's declared war. We declare war and we're like, okay, we're going to war. So we finished the MLS school and we get sent to 29 Palms, which is, you know, California. and it's the desert. It's like 114 degrees in the shade, and it's dry and it's hot and it's miserable,

you know, and I would get nosebleeds. It was so dry, you know, and basically we were trained for desert warfare. And back then it was a little bit different because, you know, you go through the gas chamber in boot camp where you have to breathe in. I think it was like a, I wouldn't say a mustard gas, but it was like a very heavy tear gas, right?

Every, you were leaking fluids from every orifice after you breathe this stuff in. I mean, everybody came out just dripping snort trails for about 15 miles, man. It was unbelievable. So we went to the, we went to the desert training. We're all ready to go. And we're talking about nuclear options and what have you. What happens if they got nuclear, this and that? well we all go in the bunk.

I said, okay, we all go in the bunk. We say, how do we know when it's all clear to come out of the bunk? He says, will we send up non-essential personnel? We're like, well, who's non-essential personnel? They said, look at your sleeve. If you got no stripes, you're the first one. If you have one stripe, you're the second one. I'm like, damn, you know, you realize how insignificant in your life is.

right but I guess you know to save the team and what have you so long story short we're thinking we're going to war that's it blah blah blah but if you know anything about desert storm it's probably one of the shortest wars ever fought it was called the three-day war you know and uh again I avoided catastrophe I avoided uh you know being in the mix um not not by my choice just by happenstance. And so, you know, I went to my station, my duty station, did my work there until I left. Actually, what that happened was I got hurt physically. I was involved in a car accident.

Originally, I had signed up as a reservist, and I ended up doing like two years active before, and that's not how it's supposed to be. I'm like, whatever. You end up doing like two years active, and then I finally got to go to my reserve station, so now you have to work, right? And then you go to your reserve station. And I ended up getting into a car accident

while I work and rupturing all my lower discs. And so I ended up getting an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps, and that was my Marine Corps life. You know, that was the story of me in the Marine Corps. This episode is brought to you by prize picks. You and I make decisions every day, but on prize picks, being right can get you paid. Don't miss any of the excitement this season on prize picks, where it's good to be right.

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My father had a, at this time, you know, we kept working for the family business during all of high school and all that. And he kept growing and he was doing really well with his business at the time. And he was a millionaire when a million dollars meant something, right? So we became, you know, our house became affluent. I wouldn't say we became affluent because that was anything but affluent. But we were blue-collar millionaires, right? Blue-collar millionaire. I didn't know it at the time, but I guess that's what we were, you know.

So, yeah, went back to the construction realm and started doing that, started doing my own business, and you realize how messed up people are when you're in a contract and you're doing all this work. And people just like, F you, I'm not going to pay you. Like, what do you mean? You know, and just trail you along, trail you along, trail you along, trail you along, until you just can't do it no more. And you just don't have enough money to operate and you go out of business. You realize, wow, man, people are just messed up.

You know, people are screwed up. And how could you do that to somebody? Like, how could you do that to another human being? Purposely make them suffer like that when you're sitting on the money, you know? And I don't have to tell you the legal system is all messed up. It's very hard to get justice, especially in situations like that. So I just basically shut down and went to go work construction, you know. When do you start to develop a passion for motorcycles?

I always had a passion for motorcycles. Back in seventh grade, I started riding. Actually, before that, we used to go to a friend's house, and his sons, they were older. They always raced Yamaha dirt bikes and Zuzzi. Zuki, and so I would just always take their motorcycle and go around the house. And that's all I did all evening while, you know, the parents drank wine and ate cheese or whatever it was that they were doing. And they were, the other guys were older to me, but they were like, take the bike,

take the motorcycle, and just go around the house for an hour's at a time, one big circle. And, yeah, I was young. It was probably about fifth, sixth grade that I was doing that. And then seventh grade, I finally got my own motorcycle. I got a Zizuki DS 100, and 1982 Zizuki DS100. I still have it today. Really?

Yeah, yeah, it came back to me, actually. It's a funny story. It came back to me. I don't want to fast forward too much, but my family had, there was a very bad recession in the 90s, and basically my father lost everything because it was stupid investments that we told them not to do.

But he ended up taking my motorcycle and thrown it in the garbage. And so a friend of mine was working there, he was working for the dumpster company. And he's looking at the bike. He's like, oh, yo, that looks familiar. And he saw the other bike, too, was the CB 350, was my brother-in-law's at the time. So he took them out of the garbage.

and a couple years later he's like, yo, you want your bike back? I'm like, what? He's like, you want your bike back? I got her in my garage. I'm like, absolutely. And ever since then, I was like, that's freaking awesome, man.

She came back to me, you know? That's very wholesome. Yeah, yeah. So I have the bike at home. She sits in my garage and I'm going to start to fix her up. But, yeah, I always had a passion for riding motorcycles. all during college and after high school, you know, we were into rice burners.

I had a Kawasaki Ninja, and I was a little off-tilt mentally, do all sorts of crazy things. Nowadays, I could have had a channel on Instagram or one of those things that would be world famous, but at the time we didn't have all those cameras and stuff like that, but, you know, I used to do Indian Lassie.

and surf on the bike and no hands and stand up on it and and all that crazy stuff and pull wheelies down the block. So I always had a passion for motorcycles. I just loved motorcycles, but I didn't get into the Holley's till later in life. You know, I really, really stuck with that. And then when I, when I had a family, I stepped away from riding motorcycles for quite a long period. And that was that, okay, I'm married, I got kids, I can't do this. In college, during my college years when I was riding, two very good friends of mine, they were both a little bit older. I always hung out with older people, older guys.

You know, if I was 19, I was hanging out with 23, 24-year-olds. and the one crazy day that I decided that I'm going to do homework I didn't go out with my motorcycle I said you guys go and they got killed that day yeah so like I was saying before there's like this whole thing where in my life like I I avoided catastrophe I avoided catastrophe you know and my friend Joey he died instantly you know, a lady just went through the stop sign, and they were riding on Gun Hill Road, fast, I'm sure.

And he had no time to stop, hit the, you know, dropped the bike, hit the tire, snapped his neck. My other friend, Tony, went flying. He was just basically alive, but not alive. You know, like his eyes were open, but and then a couple years later he died, you know. And it was sad, you know, he had a wife, he had a child, and that really affected me.

I know he loved them tremendously, and we would work together, you know, because, you know, during college I always worked, and we would always work construction together, and it was just so full of life, and to see him there just like, just like existing. no nothing going on it was sad and his and his wife and son

were basically left to fend for themselves right basically left to fend oh she actually took care of took care of him she's a very honorable woman you know and and so even though it was tragic you also see like the way people step up

right the sacrifices that love allows you to make you know she she had a a small child. She started working full-time, taking care of having the nurses' AIDS and all that stuff.

And I think he survived about five years after that. So she did it for five years. And from, I'm still kind of in touch with her on social media and from what I've seen she hasn't remarried or anything like that. Her son's grown up now and married and what have you.

But I think that really affected me where, you know, one day I just, I got I was over a friend's house. I got hammers. I'm like, F it. I'm not riding no more, man.

You know? So it was kind of like a little bit of a depressing period when you lose two friends. And so I put the bike down. You know, somebody bought it. Took advantage of my situation or whatever. I'm like, I don't give a shit. Take it, you know.

And so I got rid of it, you know. And then I just started working construction. How did you get back into riding? So I got back into riding because my responsibilities were basically, I don't want to say done, but you get to a point in life where it's like you're going to work, you're on that mill every day, just running, running like that little gerbil or hamster on the wheel, and your life, you're like, man, this sucks. This is all I do, all I do.

My kids were getting grown to a point where, you know, they could survive, right? They were two graduated college. The other two were in high school. For some reason, we had, you know, I've been married for 30, 30, sorry, hon, 32 years, I think. You're going to get in trouble. Yeah, I'm going to go in trouble. I'm going to go in trouble. It's okay.

She knows I love her. So we had, we have, our kids are 10 years apart from each other. We had two older boys and two younger girls, 10 years apart from each other. I'm like, you know, you just added 10 years to my retirement life, right? No, I got to. But, yeah, so they were at that point where they were just kind of able to take care of themselves. And I'm like, yo, I got to get back into writing. And she was not for it, but it's just something I had to do.

I went out. And, you know, I bought a Kawasaki Vulcan. I think it was a 900, and I stayed with that for about six months. And I'm like, this thing's not fast enough, you know. You just open it up. And then I ended up getting a vocaro. And then I ended up buying a road king. You know, I have a beautiful classic 2003 Road King that it was on Sosa's show.

That's the one that we took the picture with. And now I got a 22 road glide that's outside. the red bun and I just I just love it I love it I knew you know you get to an age in life where you got more summers behind you than ahead of you and you're like I got to live man I got to live a little you know um so I just I wanted that brotherhood again like in the Marine Corps you know in the Marines is one thing that people can say about Marines the brotherhood is for life, right? Whenever you meet another Marine, it's just a natural bond because you've all been through the same process, I guess, right? The same boot camp and what have you,

and you just have that fraternal thing in common, right? So, and I kind of wanted that, but at this point in life, it was like, you know, I had given my life over to Christ. I was a, you know, born-again Christian. I'm like, I don't think I would do well in one of the top fours, you know, the big guys. I said, I don't think I would do well there. And I was just searching.

I said, there's got to be something, something out there, you know. And there were two clubs at the time, Least of Saints, and one that shall not be mentioned. that's basically a cult. And I was like, I actually went to go visit that other one and just dealing with the guys. I'm like, no, this isn't for me. I came over to least the Saints. I met the guys. And it was funny because at the time I used to wear a Spartan ring, you know.

And in the back of our cut, we have a Spartan head. And they were like, oh, you're a Nachie, you know. So I started getting into the club with them. You know, we would just ride and we ride a couple, you know, as a group we ride, you know, two times a month minimum, you know, and then ride during the whenever we want. But we've grown in that at the time when I joined. That was just a nobody.

You have to, you have to prospect. you go through a period and then they have a vote if they want to let you in or not, right? You got to see if you get along with the people, if you're able to get along. If they like you, you like them. One person says no and you're done, right? So they decided to make me a full patch member. Bonjour, compadre. It's the Priceline negotiator.

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And it's been like that ever since, you know. How hard was it to prospect? Look, so it was a Christian club. So let's, right? prospects and other clubs go through a lot worse than what I through. I didn't go through nothing in comparison. So I'm not going to sit here and cry me a river or anything like that. It was nothing.

Prospects in other clubs, especially the big clubs, go through a lot. Your life is dedicated to that club. That club comes before your family. and comes before your God, you work, right? Everybody has a job, but it's basically so you can ride. You know, it's tough, it's tough. But at the same time, it's like those men who made those sacrifices in those clubs and who carry on that tradition really make the culture what it is, right?

I mean, people see me ride and they see a cube. that says MC on the back of my cuts, they're thinking, it's like we spoke about before, right? There's a particular club that everybody just automatically thinks is synonymous with writing, but they're the ones who created

the traditions and the environments, and that all came from military, right? That all came from military. A lot of these clubs that have been around from the 50s, the 60s, These were all men who, you know, just came out of like World War II, Vietnam, and they just wanted that thrill again, whether they were fighter pilots or just the adrenaline rush from war, the brotherhood, you know, they just wanted that again.

So they had this passion for riding motorcycles, and they started forming these clubs. and they started forming these clubs, you know, and California was a big spot for the motorcycle scene. I mean, you could ride all year round, right? That's awesome. And it's funny because when I was growing up, that was probably one of the most amazing sights was seeing these guys on a motorcycle, man.

Because like in the Bronx, there were clubs and at the time there was like the chinglings they're still around great club long tradition in the Bronx they weren't the only ones there was black falcons there was H.A. was there. There was a lot of clubs but you know probably more clubs than I could remember as a kid right but you remember you remember certain ones but it was just you saw that and And you heard it first, right? You hear the rumbling, the typical twin cam,

Harley, evolution coming down. And, you know, sometimes you hear one, and that's loud. Try six, seven, eight, ten, open pipes, right? Coming down, you're like, what is this ruckus, right? And it's just, they grab the attention. Life seems to just stand still, and everybody just looks and pays attention, right? Without them even doing anything.

All they're doing is writing, you know? And it was just something that kind of like always stuck in my head. That was amazing, right? It was just an amazing, amazing rumble and noise, and you just get hooked, man. It's just, it's a holly. It's a holly. So even though the club you joined wasn't one of the bigger ones,

is it's still considered a 1% club? No. No, not at all. What's the difference between that and a 1% club? So back in the, I'm going to say around the 60s, maybe the 50s, you have the American Motorcycle Association. You ever hear the Booth Fighters? The Booth Fighters was formed in California. I think that one of the oldest clubs, I think the oldest clubs, I think the oldest clubs,

is actually Yonkers motorcycle club. Yonkers actually started off as a bicycle club, and then they started putting motors on them, and they became a motorcycle car. Such a rich tradition, man. It's phenomenal. I love talking when I run into those guys about their club and learning about it.

But that terminology, so there was a town, and I forgot, name of the town, but there was a lot of drinking and what have you going on and ruckers. That's what bikers do, right? And the American Association, the American Motorcycle Association said, listen, 99% of motorcyclists are law-abiding citizens. It's the 1% that's not their outlaws, right? And that's how that came about with the 1% right? And now you see the 1% diamond. And that's earned, right? That's earned. And you got to, in the motorcycle culture, you got to show respect and give respect, right? And those clubs with that diamond are, they're the big clubs, right? Most of them are the big clubs. Not all of them, but most of them, some of them are support clubs and what have you. But that really is what the separation is. There are other MCs out there that are not one percenters,

but just family clubs, Christian club, and what have you. And just a different lifestyle, right? Different priorities, right? Like in our club, it's God first, right? Family, work, club. You know, from what I hear in these other clubs, it's club for us. and then everything else. Now, you're still structured the same way, though,

in the sense where you have a president, you have like a treasure or vice president. Absolutely. You have to stick with the motorcycle tradition, the MC tradition, right? Now, there's no set. These are the offices that you have to have. You need to have 10 or 8 or 6.

No, but, you know, obviously the normal president, vice president, secretary, secretary treasurer sometimes combined. You have a sergeant at arms who enforces the bylaws. And in our chapter, in our club, because we're a Christian club, we have a chaplain who's also an officer, right? And the chaplain is responsible for the spiritual well-being of the club. right and and he actually goes out our chaplain is very active as well as a lot of our members

going out and visiting other motorcyclists who are sick in the hospital what have you need prayer but also you know regular people if somebody you know we have a a waitress who loves us that a place that diner we always go to and you know she was sick and she asked us you know, to pray for her. We always, we love her. Vivian, hi. We always prayed for her and what have you. But, you know, we're there, we're there for people.

We're there to share the gospel. We're there for, that's our mission, right? That's our mission. And the motorcycles just kind of open up a lot of doors. You know, they open up a lot of doors. But going back to the structure, yeah, we're a traditional motorcycle club. You know, we're formed back in 2008 in San Antonio, Texas by three brothers and a father, who, you know, still running the club.

And we've grown quite a bit, pretty much, pretty much, I don't want to say worldwide, but Western Hemisphere-wide. Do you think there's a negative connotation with, say, a biker with the vest on, wearing a patch, things of that nature? Absolutely, right? Absolutely. And there's a certain mystique that we enjoy, right? I mean, let's be real, right?

I get to enjoy that mystique because of the big clubs, right? People sometimes don't know the difference between a Christian club, a family club, 1% club, right? They just see that vest. They see colors. They see loud motorcycles. It all gets thrown in the mix, you know? And what's funny is because, like, you know, we go to a men's retreat up in Pennsylvania that we put together.

And we go into this diner where all the locals go. And they're mostly older, older people, I would say. And, you know, we go in and they're all quiet looking at us. and, you know, you hear like the little whispers and all that stuff. And then we sit at a table, you know, eight, ten, twelve of us, whatever it is. And, you know, before the meal, we take our hats off and we bow to say a prayer before the meal. And they're like, what's going on with this? That's always kind of funny, you know, kind of enjoyable.

And then you see them like breathe a sigh of relief. and then a lot of people strike up conversations with us and start talking with us, you know. So that's always kind of cool. And then, you know, of course we have, you know, Ephesians 3-8 over there. So if anybody's familiar with, you know, looking at Bible, they'll say, oh, isn't that a Bible verse? That's strange. I've never seen a club with a Bible verse on the side of the thing. So that'll ring some bells, you know.

And then we have another little patch that says leading the loss to the cross, right? So sharing the gospel, the salvation of Christ with people. I remember one time you actually said a prayer with a gentleman on one of your... Oh, Pastor Mark? Pastor Mark. Yeah, he's a good guy. He's a good guy. Now, I've interviewed several X leaders of 1% motorcycle clubs and kind of the common theme that they're saying is that the brotherhood.

And those 1% clubs are, it's coming to an end. It's not what it used to be. Do you feel that in your motorcycle club? That's not a 1% club? I think everything in a person's life comes to an end. Right? Things change. We change.

Maybe we don't exit when we should have. Right? But there's still brotherhood there, right? I'm not really going to comment. I don't know details. And I'm not going to really try to guess. or make any derogatory comments about those things. And you hear about brotherhood eroding and stuff like that.

But is it really? You know, I don't know. I think people just change. And I think that, you know, a club is no different than any other organization. You know, you have 80% of the people that are there, right? 80% of the people there. 20% of actually doing stuff. You have some guys coming in, some guys going out, right?

And then there's the rest of the blob right in here. And that's it, you know. Is it any different than the mafia? You know, I think the mafia was worse as far as brotherhood eroding, you know. As soon as RICO and all that other stuff came out, it was like you had, you had, heads of families turning state evidence, right? Which would, you know, that's, that, that was, that was unheard of at the time, right? Yeah, I mean, I think you probably have more former mafia guys going on social media talking about all the people they killed rather than former bikers.

Absolutely. Absolutely. So there's still that, that, that code, right? I think, I think every biker lives by a code, whether he's still in the club or not, you know. I'm going to keep it to myself. And, you know, that's the way we grew up. You know, that's the way we grew up in, you know, in the Bronx, right? Like I mentioned earlier, you saw something, somebody asked you?

I didn't see nothing. You know, and that's just the way it is. Do you ever get people that look at it as, like, childish or, like, judge you for, like, saying you're an adult, you know, doing this whole motorcycle club thing? Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. Nobody's ever actually come up to us and said that. I'm going to take some balls. Yeah, it would probably, you know, and to be quite honest, I would just laugh at that. I'm like, yeah, whatever you think, no problem, you know. But yeah, you know, you probably think like, oh, would they in the Boy Scouts or something?

I was in the Boy Scouts, by the way. Yeah, so I guess I do like vest and patches, right? But I'm more in love with the tradition, right? I'm more in love with the, with the tradition, the brotherhood, there's going to be a time where maybe it is time for me to exit. So does that make the club bad? Right? Or maybe my behavior changes and I don't act appropriately the way a club expects.

Does that mean it's the club? I mean, you know, there's all sorts of different influences and changes that people go through in life that affects you and changes you. So if one person feels that the brotherhood is no longer there, and well, maybe that is true for them, but if you were involved in criminality,

like, you know how that goes, right? You know, how much honor is there amongst thieves? I guess there's some, right? I guess there's some, but some of them are not so much, right? and you look at the mafia, and that's a point in case, you know, unfortunately, unfortunately. So I think a lot of that has to do with opinion. I've never ran across another club where I showed them respect and they disrespected us, you know, and it didn't matter if we were a Christian club or not.

you give respect, you get respect. It's that simple, right? It's that simple. I think that's what's missing in our society as a matter of fact. There's a certain honor and integrity, right, that that is just, it's not there. It's not there, you know. And I think of all social media is great and it's an awesome tool. I mean, you're making a living off of it, right?

And I would not have even known about you if it wasn't for social media, right? I think a lot of times with the commentary and stuff, you know, people don't get punched in the face anymore when they make certain comments, right? Facebook and what have you. They say the dumbest, rudest things without any conscience or care about the person that they're speaking about. And there's no repercussion, right? There's no repercussion. And so that's what I see in society today. And I think that they're always pointing towards the bad examples

where they say, brotherhood is eroding and this and that. But if there's somebody's clubs have been around 100 years, 60 years, 70 years. How many businesses can say that? Right. How many other clubs could really say that? Right? And I mean, clubs in general, right? Can say they've been around.

I mean, look at Yonkers motorcycle clubs. It's been around 100 years. Who could say that? You know, that's hard. So, yeah, while you're there, there's definitely brotherhood. And if you get involved in stuff, that's on you, you know. How long does it take for you to become president since you joined? It didn't really take that long.

There was just different circumstances that have. happened it wasn't like I was gunning for it it was actually I actually didn't want to be an officer I was I just had so much responsibilities and stuff in construction you know climbing up the ladder I mean you could probably hear my phone ringing in the background now you know climbing up the ladder and and and and and doing so I just wanted a place where I could ride and just follow right and just follow somebody else's lead and just be a be a follower, you know, and that was like my, that was my therapy, what have you, right? And I was okay with it.

I was okay with it for a while. But then they ex me, you know, they saw I had some organizational skills. They're like, yo, you got to be the secretary and treasurer. Like, okay, if I must. So I became the secretary treasurer, started organizing the chapter a little bit more. and then that was for quite a period. And we had our essay, and we had a chaplain also involved. Our president at the time comes in one year and says,

I'm going to nationals. And, you know, you guys got to figure out who's going to be president. Everybody's looking at you, you, you, you know. and they decided I was going to be it, you know. And so, yeah, I've been president now, I would say, oh, my. This podcast is sponsored by IQ Bar. Not to be a stereotype or anything, but I am one of those go, go, go girls. So I have so much stuff that's always on my plate.

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your miles go further across the South Pacific. Book now at Viji Airways.com or contact your local travel agent. Conditions apply. I think I want to say about three years now. About three years, three and a half years. Do you enjoy it? Some days. I guess that's like every job in life.

Some days. No, you enjoy it. It's a responsibility. You know, it comes natural to have that leadership. role. Some days it's like hurting cats, and other days it's like a well-oiled machine. I guess that's kind of like the way any life or organization is. But yeah, there's a certain amount of respect and honor that comes with the position

and even other clubs recognize and respect, you know, the presidency. It doesn't, you know, but at the same time, I don't let it get to my head because today I'm president, maybe tomorrow I won't be, right? One thing I've learned is never to fall in love with a position or a role, right? Even now, as in the construction aspect, they gave me a business card one time and it says, director of New York City infrastructure. I'm like, wow, that's not, who's this? Those are your cards. I'm like, oh, do I get a raise with it?

No, thanks for the card, right? It's just, it's a title. It's a title, but it's, it's responsibility, you know. The way I see things, any kind, anybody who's in a leadership role is basically your, your role is to keep the machine moving, right? to make sure the responsibilities are getting done and that you create an environment for your people to succeed, right? Whether it's in a club or whether it's on the job site,

you want to create that environment for people to succeed. You know, growing up in the construction world, there was always kind of an attitude of you hide the secrets of the trait and what have you and older guys we'd always try to trip up the younger guys and get them fired. And I wouldn't say all of them would do that. You always found that one or two nice guys

who would be like, hey, come here. You know, let me show you. Right. And so, but generally, I mean, generally speaking, that's, you know, pretty much, like I said, in any club, any chapter, any environment, blah, blah, you always create that environment of success where people can be successful at their job.

That's what I think a leader's role is. Of course, you've got to provide the vision, right? You provide the vision, but you're also the most servant-minded, right? The most servant-minded. Sometimes you're cleaning toilets. Sometimes you're using them, right? Sometimes you're sitting on the real throne, and people are giving you honor, and sometimes you're cleaning it. You know, I mean, that's just the way it is.

What do you think is the most challenging aspect of being a motorcycle club president? The most challenging aspect, I think, is ensuring future success, ensuring that, especially in our chapter, our club, because it's a Christian-based club. club, right? We're taught, right, scripturally to stay humble. And that's not always easy, right? That's not always easy. People have gotten into positions where we had to let go, right? We had a, you have to correct. And you got to correct in love, right? You, hey, brother, you're not, you're not doing this right. You know, we've got to talk. And you talk. And you talk. with them. And if he doesn't listen to you one-on-one, you take another brother along with you and speak with them. And this is how Christians are supposed to behave. This is scriptural. And if that doesn't

happen and the behavior continues and the rebellious behavior continues, it's out. You know, it's in a motorcycle club. It's not about the individual. It's about the group, right? And group dynamics. You could be an individual when you're riding by yourself, but you always have to have the group in mind. How are my actions and behaviors going to affect the club? Right? You know, we talked about one percent as before, and I'm not going to try to guess what percentage of the club

are legal, blue-collar, working people, normal people. But you're not going to hear about them. you're not going to hear about the plumbers, the electricians, the lawyer, the doctor, all that stuff. You're going to hear about the guy who's selling meth or the guy who's running illegal strip club or whatever, you know, all that kind of stuff, right? That's what you hear about because it's sensationalism. It's what sells papers. It's what gets headlines and what have you. but a lot of those clubs, most of the people are just hardworking people, right?

They may not, they may be a little different than my club, but every club has a different personality that comes along with it, right? And that's what's so amazing. The clubs themselves almost have their own personality, you know? And so you find one that fits your personality. And that's the one that you join if that's what you want to do. What's a lesson that a motorcycle club has taught you that you don't think you would have learned without being in that club? So I'm going to have to take it to my Christian walk, right?

I go to what people were referred to as a conservative Christian church. So we read the Bible, we try to understand it, we try to do what it says, right? Whether that be in our worship service, whether it be in our walk, and don't get me wrong, I'm by no means perfect. There's some days where I curse, there's some days where I get angry. There's sin in my life, right? I'm not trying to, you know, pretend that I'm holier than thou, right? But at the same time, you read the Bible, you know what's right, you know what's.

So you would always hear about different denominations, different Christian walks and all that. But it was only in theory, right? So what we do with our art club, right, the only thing is you got to be a born-again Christian, right? We don't, not really denominational. Born again Christian. Within that, that helm and that hemisphere, there's so many different aspects of it. And then you start to realize,

hey, maybe we're doing, we're not doing everything 100%, right? So you lose that Christian arrogance, you know? And the world of different ways of worship the world of different ideas, different ways of seeing certain verses, really opened up to me. Right? So that to me was one of the biggest changes that I had in my life with the club.

But it also gave me the courage, right, to go out there and share the gospel. I was a Christian, conservative Christian, but it was always like, people will see me, see God in me by my walk. But sometimes that don't happen, right? You can't keep it quiet. The Bible tells us to be a light unto the world, right? You can't be a light when you're under a basket, you know? So that was probably one of the biggest things that opened up in my head, right?

and not being judgey, right? Not being judgy, not being judgy. People are in different walks in their life, right? Different aspects. You don't know where they are. Whether it's life in general or their Christian walk, right? You don't know where they are. And a lot of what I've learned in the scriptures really brought me to be the person

that I am in the construction field too, the working field, right? I work with an organization, and I got permission, and I spoke with them in a positive, positive workforce in Spanish Harlem, right? I've known them for quite a long time. You know, work, coalitions used to be looked down upon, right? And to some degree they are, right, looked down upon by the unions and the construction world and what have you. And the reason being is because they would come out and try to get jobs the best they knew how, which was basically we're going to hit you in the head with a bat, right?

The way the Italians used to do it and the way the unions used to do it back in the 20s and the 30s, right? That's basically how we did. it. Okay? You don't want to hire union? We're going to burn your machine down. That's how we did it until they became all legitimized and all that, right? And now you have more to lose as a union that you do to gain by that behavior, right? Well, some coalitions still have plenty to lose, and some of them have grown, you know. And this is one organization that's grown into truly what its name is, positive, right? It's, it, um, it, um, it, um, it, um, it, um, it, um, it, it, um, it, um, Listen, a lot of the members have, you know, felons or court, you know, court cases and all that.

But, you know, they come work for us and it's like there's a certain discipline that's instilled in them, you know. And because I speak with the gentleman who run the organization, I try to help that person, right? try to help them grow, you know, try to help them be a better person, try to help them be a better worker, right? We point out different aspects. Just the fact that they're there showing up every day, like that's half the battle, right? That's half the battle.

So that's one organization that I really have come to love and grow and work with and because they train their people, right? It's not just a matter of threats. They train their people, and the people that they put out are well-trained for whatever the position is that they're going to put them at. And so, like I said, we were talking about earlier, about leadership, right? That's the leadership who's creating an environment for success, right, for their people. Same thing for me, when they come work for me or even the guys, when they come out of the union or whatever. have you and they come work for me. A lot of these guys are untrained. They don't know what to do.

So if you got the time, you train them. You create that environment for them to grow. If they don't grow, then they're out, you know. But you got to have a hunger. You got to have a work ethic. And you got to show up. And you got to show up. So that's, that's pretty important. And I think those are aspects and parameters of life that just, it doesn't matter, whether it's club, work, family. I think those are important things where you create that environment for success. What advice would you give to a guy that's just coming out of prison right now? So we have members in our club who have gone to college, right? And I would, uh, I would would tell them what I would tell any, any sinner, right?

Is that you're not who your past is, right? You have an opportunity to be different, right? I didn't say it was going to be easy. And I didn't say that, I didn't say that the world's going to roll a red carpet out for you because it's not. and before I go into that advice, I just want to say this, why I love this podcast, right? Because this podcast probably has more people who've never caught a case, who never been to jail that watch it, right? And so I want to say to them, give them a chance.

Some of the most loyal people I've ever worked with were imprisoned. you know, give them an opportunity. Give them an opportunity. Everybody deserves a second chance, right? Or a third sometimes. Some of my guys are on their 10th. But I love them, right? I love them.

I love them. They got good hearts. For somebody who's coming out of prison, I would say, if you can, get into construction. go work, right? Start to bring in that legal money. Whatever, whatever aspect that it is, $100 made legally is better than $1,000 made illegally

because nobody's going to come and take it for you. Change your environment, right? I'm, you know, I have one of my guys, he's really struggling because he's in a bad environment, you know, he surrounds himself with just bad people. but I try to encourage him. He shows up to work every day. You know, he shows.

And again, what's the timeline on him? Do I cut him off? Because I smell weed on them, right? And as legal as it may be, it is not legal in construction, fellas, okay? You cannot drive while influence. You cannot operate equipment. The insurance company will have you pee in a bottle and go take a test. At home, do whatever the heck you want.

Right? But, yeah, you know, where is that person on their walk? I don't know. Do I, do I cut him off? Right? If I cut him off, then what happens? What does he do with full living? What is he? Is he working hard? Yeah, when he's here, he's working hard. So let him work, right? Let him work. Everybody's on different paths. Everybody's on different walks. Not everybody is going to be a leader. Some people are okay, just being a follower. You know, the higher up the scale you go in construction, we're the top dogs in New York City, right? There's not too many places. You know, and I always kid around with my immigrant workers. I say, hey, if I go to your country and don't speak the language,

do you think I could get a job in construction making $100,000 a year? And they look at you, they're like, of course not. I'm like, yeah, imagine that, right? You know, you can't. But you could come out of prison, get into a, a, labor union and make a hundred and change thousand you know a hundred thousand a year plus have health benefits right fix your teeth fix take care of your health provide for your family right and actually have something at retirement like plan a future you know so my recommendation would always be

try to get into a labor union and whatever avenue that may be. If you have to start off working non-union, right, you start off working non-union, but work your way up to it. To me, I believe, you know, people always talk trash about unions, you know. And now I'm a registered Republican, and I wasn't always a registered Republican, right? And they were the first ones to always talk trash about unions, but there's a lot of Republicans in unions now, you know. But the point being is that when a union's strong, our families are strong,

right? When unions are strong, our community are strong. It's not about socialism and communism and all this crazy fear tactics, right? It's who fights for the little guy? Who fights for the family man? Right? Do you think George Soros is going to give me

a job for 200 $250,000 a year to provide for my family, he'd rather crush me and take my 250,000, right? There's particular people that are higher up on the echelon that are evil and bad. And as a group, you're able to fight against that, right? And whether it's through politics or politicking or protesting or what have you, yo, the union's got to do what they got to do. but my advice, start off as a laborer. That's what I did.

I was a laborer when I was young, and I worked my way up into surveying and doing the engineering. And then I was like, oh, that super drives a nice truck. You know, and I just kind of worked my way up. But that was part of my personality. I know 731 laborers who are a millionaires. And then not just millionaires from the union working every day.

They take that money. They buy an apartment building or they buy a three-family home, live in one unit. It gives you options in life, right? It gives you options. When you got legal money coming in, it gives you options in life. And so not everybody, you know, is against criminal, or if you had a criminal pass or if you've had any, any kind of shaded pass in the back. A lot of us could have been there. And by either dumb luck or God above who said, I'm going to put this guy in a position to help others and da-da-da-da-da.

It didn't happen to me and I'm thankful for it. I watch your podcast, and you know, you can relate to people. You could see how it could happen in life. You know, it was one thing I always tell my kids. I said, you're two circumstances away from being homeless and broke, you know? And they look at you and they're like, you're talking about that. I'm like, I'm telling you, man, if you go talk to a homeless guy on the street, you know, you will call him a bum, right? and maybe because he's drunk or whatever, burying his emotions or what have you.

But two circumstances happen. He lost a job or he lost his family, right? And it happened. I could die. My wife could, you know, something could happen to her. The money gets all spent by the kids. What happens? You're homeless.

So maybe it's a little bit of an exaggeration, but I don't think so. I think it can happen. It can happen to people. So that's why I always tell my kids in the back of the head. You're always two circumstances from being homeless, right? Never, and the reason I say that is not to be scared, work like an animal, but never take things for granted, right? Never take your job for granted.

Never take your life's blessings for granted. The food that you have on the table for granted, right? And never look at a person. who's down and look down upon them, right? You don't know their circumstances. Maybe you go talk with them, right, and try to build them up. So I don't want to get all flowery and all that, but that's life, right? That's life.

If we don't do it, who's going to do it, right? if we don't if we don't help each other as humans right as as as as as New Yorkers as Americans as you know who's going to do it nobody's going to do it every time and a one of our fellow man becomes a worse person it makes a worse society right when we when we all get better right as individuals the whole society gets better you know And to me, like these past years, there's been a decline because we lost that focus, right? We lost that focus. So my prayer is that we get it back and stop being so judgy.

And we learn to love one another, right? And help build one another up, right? Don't be so judgy. And let's all be better people. Absolutely. Well, Raf, thanks so much for coming on the show today. I appreciate you having me. Yeah, I appreciate you, man. This was an incredible conversation. Thank you.