Of 11 cases heard Tuesday, only three defendants charged in connection with an undercover FBI investigation into the Outlaw Motorcycle Club and affiliate clubs in Georgia were given bond.

The detention hearings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan S. Cole will continue Thursday. A total of 23 people are charged in the cases, including four from Gainesville: Davey Honeycutt, 41, charged with cocaine conspiracy and possession and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm; Brandon Musser, 27, cocaine conspiracy and possession; Reynol Castrejon, 21, conspiracy and possession counts relating to methamphetamine; and Phillip Honeycutt, 46, cocaine conspiracy and possession.

Phillip Honeycutt was the only man of the four to receive bond. His bond is set at $10,000.

According to federal prosecutors, Davey Honeycutt, Musser and Thomas Coley, 58, of Elberton helped with an undercover drug deal as “lookouts,” while getting paid $200 for their services.

The men met with an undercover agent who told them about a possible drug deal and helped with a sale of what they thought to be cocaine, according to prosecutors.

Davey Honeycutt, prosecutors said, also sold two guns to an informant.

The men pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to FBI Special Agent Mark Sewell, who was a witness during some of the hearings, there were “a number of law enforcement leaks in this investigation,” which began last spring.

He said some law enforcement officers were “very friendly with motorcycle clubs.”

Those leaks, he said, forced law enforcement to hold off issuing warrants for other crimes during that time, including one for Musser who was allegedly involved in a home invasion last July.

Sewell said there are audio recordings of Musser and other men talking about the invasion more than a year ago, but authorities held off on the warrant because it had the potential to jeopardize the investigation.

Musser’s warrant in connection with the home invasion was issued Friday.

Benny Leverett, 46, of Buford, was also charged in the undercover operation with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, but another warrant was issued Monday in connection with a January 2011 incident in Macon where Leverett is accused of hitting a man with a hammer.

Leverett was issued a $10,000 bond and required to stay within the confines of his parents’ house in Byron.
George Norwood, 48, of Cumming was also allowed to post bond Tuesday.

Both Norwood and Raymond Sellers, 65, of Dawsonville, were arraigned on charges they conspired to make a bomb and give it to an undercover agent. Sellers was detained until the trial.

Also detained Tuesday were Philip Alexander, 49, of Buford; Walt Verrill, 48, of Sautee; and Howard Haney, 41, of Alpharetta.

The men were arrested following an undercover FBI investigation.

FBI agents and local law enforcement officers taking part in the probe arrested 21 of these defendants last Thursday, while also executing seven search warrants at the Hoodlums Motorcycle Club headquarters on South Waterworks Road in Buford, the Outlaw clubhouse in Southwest Atlanta and several of the defendants’ homes.

“All but two of the defendants charged in this investigation have direct ties to the Outlaw Motorcycle Club or other motorcycle clubs that are affiliated with and controlled by the Outlaws,” said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.

“The charges unsealed (Thursday) allege that these motorcycle club members engaged in substantial drug trafficking and weapons offenses. This case is a big step forward in making sure that these groups don’t threaten the safety of our North Georgia communities.”

Six indictments charging 20 defendants and one criminal complaint charging three defendants were unsealed at the federal court in Gainesville last week.

Another defendant, arrested in Dallas, Texas, appeared in federal court there.

The indictments charge crimes including methamphetamine and cocaine conspiracy and possession, using and carrying firearms during the commission of drug trafficking crimes, conspiracy to illegally make and transfer a destructive device, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and knowingly transferring a firearm to a convicted felon.

Also charged are Larry McDaniel, 65, of Atlanta; Sean King, 40, of Gordon; Howard Brown, 63, of Milledgeville; Larry Samples, 42, of Hull; Darren Lloyd, 48, of Winterville; George Jordan, 45, of Hull; Winfred Turner, 61, of Watkinsville; Dennis Riley, 35, of Hull; James Brown, 41, of Danielsville; and Tony Parrott, 45, of Ellijay.