Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club leader gets life for murder

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A judge has sentenced the Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club Portland chapter president and another club member to life in prison for the torture-style killing of an ex-club member. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman issued the mandatory minimum sentences for Mark Leroy Dencklau and Chad Leroy Erickson  in separate hearings in federal court in Portland. Mosman said the sentences were obligatory under the law. Prosecutors described Dencklau as the “ringleader” of a criminal enterprise who orchestrated the kidnapping, torture and killing of 56-year-old Robert “Bagger” Huggins Jr., in 2015. Lawyers for Dencklau and Erickson urged a lesser sentence, saying a life sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.