Donald Eugene Chambers

Donald Eugene Chambers (November 23, 1930 – July 18, 1999) was an American Marine and founder of the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle club, in 1966 in Houston, Texas. He created the Bandidos when he returned from deployment. He was convicted of murdering two drug dealers in 1972 and served a life sentence until his parole in 1983.

Not to be confused with Donald Chambers (author).
Donald Eugene Chambers
Born(1930-11-23)November 23, 1930
DiedJuly 18, 1999(1999-07-18) (aged 68)
El Paso, Texas, US
NationalityAmerican
Other namesMother (streetname)
OccupationMarine, biker
Known forFounder of the Bandidos

Life

Chambers was a Marine in the Vietnam War. When he came back to Texas after the war, he became a member of many motorcycle clubs, but he found them too tame for his tastes. Chambers founded his own motorcycle club, the Bandidos, on March 4, 1966 in San Leon, Texas.[1][2][3][4] He chose the club's colors, red and gold, after the official colors of the U.S. Marine Corps.[2] In 1968 Chambers created the second Bandidos chapter in Corpus Christi, Texas.

In 1972, Don Chambers, Jesse "Deal" Fain and Ray Vincente abducted two drug dealers in El Paso, Texas.[2] The dealers, Marley Leon and Preston LeRay Tarver, had sold baking soda to the Bandidos, claiming it was methamphetamine.[2] The Bandidos drove the two dealers into the desert north of the city. There, the dealers were forced to dig their own graves, after which the bikers shot them with shotguns and set fire to their bodies.[2] Chambers, Deal and Vincente were all convicted of these murders, with testimony given by an eyewitness to the event. They all received life sentences.

With Chambers in prison, Ronald Jerome "Ronnie" Hodge, another former Marine, was elected the club's new national president.[1][2] Hodge was known previously as "Mr. Prospect," because he had earned his full colors in only a month, but once elected he went by the street name "Stepmother", in reference to Chambers street name "Mother".

In 1983, Chambers was paroled and retired from his club. He settled in El Paso, Texas, until his death on July 18, 1999.

Chambers is buried at a Houston cemetery beneath a large, flat grave stone inscribed with his name, affiliation with the Bandidos, and the quote, "We are the people our parents warned us about."

Notes
  1. Mallory, Stephen L. (2007), Understanding Organized Crime, Jones & Bartlett Learning, p. 156, ISBN 0-7637-4108-6, retrieved 2010-07-21
  2. Schneider, Stephen (2009), Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, John Wiley and Sons, p. 420, ISBN 0-470-83500-1, retrieved 2010-07-21
  3. Reavis, Dick (May 1979). "Never Love a Bandido". Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications. 7 (5): 102. ISSN 0148-7736. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  4. Dupont, Gilles (20 July 2010). "Les Bandidos déferlent" [The Bandidos unfurl]. Le Bien Public (in French). Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2010. Une organisation créée en 1966 par Don Chambers au Texas, et qui a essaimé dans le monde entier, et s’est organisée en « chapters » ou chapitres. [An organization founded in 1966 by Don Chambers in Texas, and has spread worldwide, and was organized into chapters.]

References
  • Hanes, Allison (April 11, 2006), "Fellow bikers killed delinquent Angels", National Post, Don Mills, Ontario, p. A.6
  • Caine, Alex (2010), The Fat Mexican: The Bloody Rise of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, Allen & Unwin, ISBN 978-1-74237-382-9
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