Russell E. Samuels.who witnessed Martin's murder, has had ties to the Pagans motorcycle club

Russell E. Samuels, 58,who witnessed Martin's murder, has had ties to the Pagans motorcycle club, according to news accounts and a law enforcement source.And now authorities are exploring whether there is a link between that gang and the killing, the source said.Samuels was part of a Pagans/Amish drug ring that operated locally 10 years ago.Martin, 45, of Earl Township, in turn, had ties to Strong Arm Productions, a local motorcycle club that serves as a feeder or associate club of the Pagans, the source said.New Holland Police today declined to comment on whether Martin's shooting, which the county district attorney has labeled an "assassination," had anything to do with the Pagans.Martin was shot in the chest and abdomen late Saturday night as he got out of Samuels' car at his home, at the end of a dead-end street off Route 322 near Hinkletown.His mother, Suzanne, said earlier this week that Martin had been out on the town that night with Samuels, a longtime friend.Police said a man in a red Ford SUV followed Samuels and Martin down Clearview Avenue to Martin's home. The man, who hid his face with an article of clothing, then shot Martin and fled.Sources said Martin was a member of Strong Arm Productions, a relatively new motorcycle club that has members in Lancaster City and eastern Lancaster County.Its members are known to frequent bars in the New Holland area, where they occasionally get into fights, said a law enforcement source familiar with the group.The club's emblem is a clenched fist and an upper arm flexing its bicep.Strong Arm is known as a feeder club for the Pagans, a law enforcement official said. Strong Arm members sometimes ride with and associate with the Pagans and, if the chemistry is right, may be asked to join the club, a source said.Lancaster County has served as a base for the Pagans over the years. Its national secretary-treasurer, now in prison on drug and money laundering charges, formerly lived in West Hempfield Township. The Lancaster County chapter president, a longtime Lancaster postal worker, was killed in 2002 in a brawl between the Pagans and the Hells Angels in New York.

The Pagans, along with the Sons of Satan, also maintained a clubhouse in Rapho Township for about 20 years, police said. The clubhouse was destroyed in a pipe bombing in 2002, during what police said may have been a gang feud.

The U.S. Department of Justice, on its Web site, says the Pagans are one of the most prominent Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs in the Mid-Atlantic region, with an estimated 200 to 250 members in 41 chapters in 11 states.The Pagans have been tied to traditional organized crime groups in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York and have engaged in criminal activities such as drug trafficking, arson, assault, bombing, extortion and murder, according to the Justice Department.Samuels, who did not return several calls for comment, is not a stranger to the club.He was among six members and Pagans associates who pleaded guilty in 1998 to distributing as much as $1 million in cocaine and methamphetamines to several Lancaster County Amish youths throughout Lancaster and Chester counties.According to federal indictments in the case, the Pagans obtained drugs and sold them to Amish people for distribution in Lancaster County at hoedowns — traditional gatherings for Amish and other teens and young adults.Samuels was identified by federal officials as a "Hang-Around" in the case. So-called "Hang-Arounds" or "Prospects" were allowed to associate and socialize with the Pagans, but had to go through a hazing period to become full members, federal authorities said at the time.Samuels pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs and was sentenced to four years in prison. At his sentencing in 1999, he told a judge that before his arrest he had decided to change his lifestyle and become a Christian. He added that he was sorry for his mistakes and had made many positive steps toward a better life and was "getting old to start over again."Samuels has an extensive criminal record in addition to the indictment in the Amish/Pagan drug ring.
In 1988, he was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to the latter two charges and was sentenced to two years of probation.In 1995, he pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property and was sentenced to two years of probation. The charge stemmed from a police search warrant at his home that turned up stolen motorcycle parts.Since his release from jail on the Amish drug ring charges, Samuels has had other problems with the law. In 2007, Samuels was charged with accidents involving death or personal injury, driving under the influence of alcohol and traffic offenses related to an accident outside a New Holland bar.According to the criminal complaint, Samuels ran over a man with his Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the parking lot of The Pub on East Main Street in July 2007, and then drove away. A test showed Samuels' blood-alcohol level was 0.167, which is above the legal threshold for drunken driving, according to the criminal complaint.Samuels told police there was a disagreement in the bar and he was trying to leave, according to the criminal complaint in the case.Samuels said "he didn't know if he hit someone or something when he left," according to the complaint. Samuels said the incident was "all over (expletive)."The alleged victim was treated at Ephrata Community Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.Samuels posted $5,000 bail and was released. A pre-trial conference on the case is scheduled for next month.Martin also had a history of criminal problems, involving assaults, a weapons charge and disorderly conduct.His most serious offense was in 2004, when New Holland police charged Martin with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, public drunkenness and a weapons offense after a fight at The Ritz on Main, 138 E. Main St., New Holland.According to newspaper records, the owner of the Ritz told police he had been assaulted by a patron, who had later been removed from the establishment.
While searching for that patron, police heard popping noises from the rear of a nearby drugstore. They found Martin, who had a .32-caliber handgun and a switchblade on him.The suspect in the assault of the club owner told police that Martin chased him and fired a gunshot at him, according to newspaper records.Court records indicate Martin pleaded guilty to possessing an illegal weapon and reckless endangerment. He was sentenced to probation.Strong Arm Productions is listed on a Web site run by the Eastern Pennsylvania Federation of Clubs, a group that claims to help "abolish discrimination toward motorcyclists, and increase communications within the motorcycle communities."
Two attorneys listed on the Web site as contacts for the Federation of Clubs — one is from Norristown and the other from West Chester — did not return phone calls on Tuesday