Motorcycle gang leader gets prison on gun possession charge

BOSTON – The man described by authorities as the regional leader of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club has been sentenced to more than 2 years in prison for being in possession of an unregistered gun, prosecutors said.

Bruce “Monster” Sartwell, 48, of East Bridgewater, was sentenced Wednesday to 2 years and 3 months behind bars and three years of probation, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston. He pleaded guilty in July.

Federal authorities in October 2019 intercepted a package from China addressed to Sartwell that was labeled as a “fuel filter,” but which authorities said actually contained a firearms silencer.

Further investigation found that Sartwell had received dozens of packages from China and other Asian nations, many of which were labeled as innocuous items that could have been more easily and cheaply purchased in the U.S., prosecutors said.

A search of Sartwell’s home resulted in the recovery of an AR-15-style ‘ghost gun’ as well as gun manufacturing tools, gun parts, and ammunition, prosecutors said. Ghost guns have no manufacturing or serial numbers.