Two members of a Schuylkill County motorcycle club have been convicted by a jury in federal court for their roles in a series of home invasions and armed robberies in Schuylkill and Berks counties in 2020.
According to information from the US District Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, a jury found Steven Wong (aka Chino), 43, of Shallotte, NC, and Solomon Rodriguez (aka Solo), 34, of Reading, guilty in a trial that concluded on June 21.
Wong was president and Rodriguez a member of the Schuylkill County chapter of the Infamous Ryders Motorcycle Club.
The Attorney General’s Office says Wong recruited members of the motorcycle club to participate in “brutal home invasion armed robberies” in Schuylkill and Berks counties during the summer and Fall months of 2020.
Wong wooed members of the club to participate by rewarding them with money and free drugs.
In these home invasions, several members of the club would enter the home a known drug dealer while wearing masks and armed with guns and knives. They’d take their drugs and drug money during their raids.
The 7-day trial in Scranton involved 19 witnesses. Wong and Rodriguez each testified in their defense.
Eric DeGree, the Special Agent in chart of the ATF Philadelphia Field Division says in a statement, “This group acted with extreme violence, invading people’s homes with machine guns drawn, and committing crimes that brutalized their victims.”
In addition to the ATF, several Schuylkill County police departments participated in the investigation, including the State Police, Mahanoy City Police Dept., Pottsville Police Dept., and Schuylkill Haven Police Dept.
Wong and Rodriguez are potentially looking at life sentences after being convicted last week.
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