The Vagos Motorcycle Club originated in 1960s as a splinter group of the Southern California Psychos Motorcycle gang. The first chapter was chartered out of San Bernardino in 1965. Recently, the Vagos numbers have been estimated at about 300 to 400 members, with the group’s key chapters still in the Inland Empire.
On Tuesday, December 7, 47-year-old Keith Allen Silva and 35-year-old David Anthony Beltran were found guilty of in the death of 32-year-old Dennis Daoussis. Silva was the president of the San Bernardino Chapter and Beltran was the sergeant at arms of the Inland Empire Chapter. Silva faces a sentence of 95 to 105 years to life in state prison. Beltran faces about 65 to 75 years to life in state prison.
Dennis Daoussis died in April of 2003. Daoussis was bound with zip ties and duct tape, beaten and his body was later found in the Mojave Desert. The crime resulted from a simple motorcycle sale that got complicated when Daoussis allegedly crossed the club, and kept the $3000 with which he was supposed buy the bike.
The really big news may be that Beltran and Silva were convicted, in large part, through direct testimony given by other Vagos club members. Five members, or former members of the club, were granted immunity for their testimony. Four of them witnessed Daoussis’s beating. This kind of cooperation from members, and even former members of an outlaw gang, is extremely rare and may signal a breakthrough in these motorcycle outlaw cases.
