Kidnapping Drug Scheme Leads To 4-Year Sentence For Lakewood Man

KANSAS CITY, MO – A Lakewood, Colorado man was sentenced this week in federal court as part of a drug-running operation affiliated with a motorcycle gang that resulted in the kidnapping and torture of a Missouri man.

Michael C. Borrusch, also known as “Birdie,” 43, of Lakewood was sentenced along with Randal G. Holmes, also known as “Peckerwood,” 54, of Kansas City, and Jeremy R. Bond, 40, of Independence, Missouri. Two other men also pleaded guilty in the scheme and are awaiting sentencing: Randal Holmes's son, Gerald L. Holmes, also known as “Jerry” or “Joker,” 27, and co-defendant Richard M. Phoenix, also known as “Snake,” 77, both of Kansas City, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District of Missouri said.

Police said the men were members of the Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club.

Between May and September of 2016, the group made a dozen trips between Kansas City and Lakewood, buying at least 120 pounds of marijuana from Borrusch, paying between $1,600 to $2,400 per pound, prosecutors said. They then brought it back to Missouri, where recreational marijuana is not legal, and sold it on the street in Kansas City, prosecutors said.

The co-defendants in Missouri kidnapped and tortured "C.H.," a member of their group, after he absconded with a duffel bag full of cash, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said on Sept. 12, 2016, father and son "Peckerwood," "Jerry" arrived at the victim's father's Independence home and forced him to call his son, C.H. and tell him he was being held at gunpoint and to come home. When C.H. arrived, they forced him into a a truck then drove him to Kansas City, where prosecutors said they beat him with a ball peen hammer and tin snips. The victim told police he was fed meth while being beaten, so he would stay awake. The Holmes family members then dropped him in rural Edwards, Missouri and told him to call his father.

Police officers were able to trace the telephone call and on Sept. 13, 2016, officers were able to locate C.H. and arrest the other members of the gang, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Officers found a plethora of firearms, marijuana and drug paraphernalia in Randal Holmes's car and home. C.H. was treated for serious injuries.

Lakewood resident Borrusch was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday, Mar. 20 for his part in the conspiracy, the USAO's office said. Randal Holmes was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Bond was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison without parole, the USAO's office said.