RIDING WITH EVIL: TAKING DOWN THE NOTORIOUS PAGAN MOTORCYCLE GANG Written by Ken Croke with New York Times Bestselling Author Dave Wedge

RIDING WITH EVIL: TAKING DOWN THE NOTORIOUS PAGAN MOTORCYCLE GANG

Written by Ken Croke with New York Times Bestselling Author Dave Wedge

The New York Times bestselling author Dave Wedge's new book, Riding with Evil: Taking Down the Notorious Pagan Motorcycle Gang, comes out today (Tuesday, March 15, 2022) on Harper Collins/William Morrow. It's a true crime psychological thriller about the only cop to ever infiltrate the Pagans -- a ruthless biker gang who are sworn rivals of the Hells Angels. The cop, ATF agent Ken Croke, became a full member of the Pagans in New York and lived undercover with the gang for two years, while his wife and three daughters were back home in Massachusetts.

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Written with Ken Croke, Riding with Evil is the story of how Ken became a fully patched member of the drug-dealing, white supremacist biker gang and rose to sergeant-at-arms. He witnessed beatings, drug deals, brutal assaults, and plots to bomb their rival Hells Angels, all while trying to avoid having his cover blown, survive the violent biker underworld and keep his sanity.

The operation resulted in the takedown of more than 20 Pagans in a 2011 sweeping federal racketeering case that included convictions for murder conspiracy, extortion, drug trafficking, assault, and weapons violations. The case has led to dozens more arrests while intelligence information from the operation continues to pay dividends to ATF and other law enforcement agencies to this day. After the case, two contracts were put out on Ken's life by the Pagans, one for $25,000 and another for $50,000. 

Riding with Evil marks the first time the story has been told publicly. Dave and Ken are available for interviews and can talk in depth about the case, the scope of the Pagans' presence and crimes in New York and New Jersey, and provide compelling photos.

A few more details about this historic case:

-Ken was arrested for having an illegal gun while undercover and spent several days in a New York jail, remaining in role as a Pagan to avoid having his cover blown.

-Ken helped move what was said to be the body of a Pagans' murder victim, traveling to the Catskills and digging a shallow grave under the cover of night with two other Pagans.

-Ken was named to an elite "hit squad" by the Mother Club.

-Ken participated in clandestine "church" meetings, which is where the Pagans plot criminal activity.

-Ken witnessed bar owners in New Jersey paying off the gang for protection, as well as Pagan chapters paying tribute to the Mother Club with envelopes of cash.

-Ken attended several Pagan "mandatory" events where thousands of bikers gathered for weekends of wild debauchery and violence.

Boston, Mass. -- Thursday, March 10, 2022 -- William Morrow is thrilled to share RIDING WITH EVIL: Taking Down the Notorious Pagan Motorcycle Gang by former ATF agent Ken Croke and New York Times bestselling author and investigative journalist Dave Wedge. This fast-paced, high-wire act memoir is Sons of Anarchy meets The Departed as Croke recounts his story as the first federal agent in history to go undercover and successfully infiltrate the infamous -- and infamously violent -- Pagan Motorcycle Club, an outlaw biker gang with white supremacist ties.

Longtime ATF agent Ken Croke began his career in 1990 in Los Angeles, where he infiltrated street gangs and busted drug and gun rings. In 2015, he was promoted to Special Agent in Charge of the Denver field division and was later promoted to Deputy Assistant Director of Field Operations for the bureau's eastern region in 2016. He finished his career as the ATF's Assistant Director. Over the course of his career, he has taken part in 1,000-plus undercover operations, including gang, drug and firearms trafficking cases.

In RIDING WITH EVIL, Ken Croke was coasting to the end of a solid career with a hard-earned, cushy desk job and beautiful family. A seasoned federal agent who cut an imposing figure, he'd done more than enough in his time to justify playing it safe, routinely going undercover to disrupt dangerous criminal organizations and, in the process, taking down white supremacists, gun runners, and gang members. But after a chance encounter with an associate of the Pagan Motorcycle Club created an opening, he transformed himself into "Slam," a monstrous, axe-handle wielding enforcer whose duty was to protect the leadership "Mother Club" at all costs. He befriended the club's most violent and criminal members and lived among them for two years, covertly building a case that would eventually take down the top members of the gang in a massive federal prosecution, even as he risked his marriage, his sanity, and his life. With today's law enforcement largely moving toward the comparative safety of cyber operations, it became one of the last of its kind, a masterclass in old school tactics that marked Croke as a dying breed of undercover agent and became legendary in law enforcement.

Now for the first time, Croke tells the story of his terrifying undercover life in the Pagans -- the unspeakable violence, extremism, drugs, and disgusting rituals. Written with bestselling crime writer Dave Wedge and utilizing the exclusive cooperation of those who lived the case with him, as well as thousands of pages of court files and hours of surveillance tapes and photos, Croke delivers a frightening, nail-biting account of the secretive and brutal biker underworld. With the renewed law enforcement and media attention on white supremacist groups, Croke's story is a timely account of the kind of undercover work that's needed to bring these organizations down.

AMONG THE TOPICS EXPLORED IN THE BOOK

-Ken spent approximately two years undercover as a biker, living mostly in Long Island, N.Y. away from his wife and three young daughters, as he infiltrated the Pagans.

-Ken created a complex fake identity that included a criminal record and even fingerprints on law enforcement databases to earn the trust of the Pagans.

-While undercover, Ken secretly recorded sessions of "Church" -- a clandestine meeting of top Pagans, including national leaders who were members of the "Mother Club." The recordings detail a litany of crimes, including plots to kill the rival Hells Angels using explosives. It's a rare instance where such a secretive meeting was recorded and documented by law enforcement.

-Ken helped move what was said to be the body of a Pagans' murder victim, traveling to the Catskills and digging a shallow grave under the cover of night with two other Pagans.

-Ken was named to an elite "hit squad" by the Mother Club and was once ordered to follow a Hells Angel who was marked for execution.

-Ken went to jail on a gun arrest while undercover, remaining in role while locked up to avoid blowing his cover.

ABOUT THE BOOK

RIDING WITH EVIL: Taking Down the Notorious Pagan Motorcycle Gang 

William Morrow | On sale: 3/15/2022

Hardcover | ISBN: 9780063092402 | $28.99

Available in E-book | E-book ISBN: 9780063092426

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

KEN CROKE began his career in 1990 in Los Angeles, where he infiltrated street gangs and busted drug and gun rings. He also served in Washington D.C. before moving to the Boston Field Division in 2000. In 2015, he was promoted to Special Agent in Charge of the Denver field division, where he oversaw all ATF operations in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana. In 2016, he was promoted to Deputy Assistant Director of Field Operations for the bureau's eastern region, putting him in charge of 10 ATF field divisions on the East Coast. He finished his career as the ATF's Assistant Director. Over the course of his career, he has taken part in 1,000-plus undercover operations, including gang, drug and firearms trafficking cases. Today he is a security consultant for global corporations.

DAVE WEDGE is a Boston-based investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author, and co-author

of Hunting Whitey, 12: The Inside Story of Tom Brady's Fight for Redemption, Boston Strong, and The Last Days of John Lennon, written with James Patterson.