VIRGINIA — Three witnesses testified Friday that they were threatened with criminal charges if they did not cooperate with the orders of state agents investigating the Iron Range chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club.

The witnesses took the stand at a hearing called in response to

allegations that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension listened

on private communications between imprisoned defendants and their lawyers.

“They kept trying to get me to say that someone had been raped,” said Jonathan Cooper, who was questioned when law enforcement searched his girlfriend’s home. “And no one was raped.”

Four club members

facing serious charges after incident almost a year ago

in which authorities say a woman was sexually assaulted and a man was taken against his will to the group’s Eveleth clubhouse and beaten.

Defense attorneys are now seeking dismissal of the charges, alleging violations of their rights to counsel and due process, witness tampering and “scandalous government conduct.” The hearing was held in the cases of two defendants, Paul Anthony Debelak and Eric Anthony Newman.

Two BCA agents denied threatening the witnesses, and prosecutors said the case was “devoid of any evidence of government interference with witnesses.”

But a criminal analyst admitted to inadvertently accessing at least one attorney-client text message, passing information to an agent who in turn discussed it with the prosecutor.

Analyst Jessica Zimmer, who works for BCA’s Fusion Center, said she reviewed a post indicating a defendant planned to surprise the state by demanding a speedy trial during a July hearing.

Zimmer said all communications with attorneys should have been marked private and remained inaccessible to investigators. While defense attorneys accuse the BCA of spying on privileged communications, prosecutors say the problem arose because the defendants and their attorneys used a general line, which they were told would be monitored by law enforcement, rather than a designated private line.

Under questioning by defense attorneys, the analyst admitted that she shared her prison login information with other BCA employees and also placed certain documents in a shared drive – both in violation of an agreement she had signed with the sheriff’s office to gain access.

But Zimmer told prosecutors she did not attempt to access any private documents and did not listen in on any phone calls between the detainees and their attorneys.

In October, the prison suspended inmates’ ability to text an attorney, said Shauna Kieffer, an attorney representing Debelak.

Special Agent Michael Dieter said Zimmer briefed him on the speedy trial information and promptly brought the case before St. Louis County Assistant District Attorney Chris Florey on July 3.

“I told him what happened and asked him if it was privileged,” Dieter said, receiving confirmation from the prosecutor that it was.

Florey quickly informed the defense of the breach. But defense lawyers raised questions about whether there had been a broader review of the privileged documents and raised concerns that witnesses may have been tampered with as a result.

Newman’s attorney, Thomas Beito, criticized Zimmer and Dieter for repeating the substance of the message rather than simply relaying that a violation may have occurred.

Kieffer and Beito also focused on the origins and goals of this lengthy investigation, suggesting that witnesses were pressured in order to preserve the case.

Dieter and fellow Special Agent Cory Skorczewski acknowledged that they had been conducting surveillance and information gathering since at least June 2023. A PowerPoint presentation prepared at some point before the alleged sexual assault and kidnapping listed a “goal » to obtain a court-ordered wiretap and file racketeering charges.

Defense attorneys argued in their briefs that the alleged victims had used drugs, a practice not tolerated by the local, and that they concocted the story for eager investigators. Their documents also allege that other witnesses in the house said the rape and kidnapping did not occur, and that there was no DNA or other forensic evidence to support this hypothesis. .

Debelak’s fiancée, Shaina Doll, said she was threatened by BCA agents on January 9. They arrived at her house knowing that she was looking for the phone number of another witness to provide to Debelak’s defense attorney.

“They wanted to know why I was trying to get information on him,” Doll said. “They were telling me I might get in trouble.”

Doll said she was also told her son could be taken away from her if she intervened in the case, telling the court the experience left her “confused (and) exhausted.”

Michelle Debelak, an older sister of the accused, said she was also ordered not to communicate with her co-defendants.

“They told me that if it was found that I had discussed the matter with anyone, I would be held in contempt and they would arrest me,” she testified.

But under cross-examination by prosecutors, Cooper, Doll and Michelle Debelak all acknowledged that they later spoke with a defense investigator, that they voluntarily showed up at Friday’s hearing and that they would be willing to testify again at any trial.

Florey and St. Louis County Deputy Prosecutor Jon Holets wrote in a recent filing that recorded interviews do not support allegations of “threats or intimidation by law enforcement.”

There was enough evidence to support Cooper’s complicity in a sexual assault, they said, and much of the interview was spent trying to convince the “clearly reluctant and fearful” witness to tell them what ‘he knew. Cooper has several prior offenses on his record and testified remotely from Oak Park Heights State Prison.

Dieter also testified Friday that agents chose to investigate Doll based on a review of other text messages and calls — not privileged communications.

The hearing became contentious at times, with prosecutors objecting to the questions asked and Judge Robert Friday trying to stay focused on issues related to attorney-client messages.

Defense attorneys filed motions asking the court to order authorities to turn over documents they have not yet received, and Kieffer said important findings were disclosed just hours before Friday’s proceeding .

“It’s very upsetting,” the lawyer said, listing the reports she has yet to receive. “I have been in practice for 17 years and have never seen this level of outrageous conduct from a government.”

Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group

The questioning focused on several other areas, including allegations that the two alleged victims were paid for information.

Defense attorneys also suggested Skorczewski incorrectly referred to another Hells Angels member he interviewed as a “confidential concerned citizen” in search warrant applications.

Skorczewski acknowledged that a district court judge and the state Court of Appeals previously ruled that he “recklessly disregarded the truth” by using similar language about a witness in another investigation.

Concerns were raised about Skorczewski’s involvement, with Gilbert Police Chief Ty Techar telling Florey he thought the officer was “going in at the deep end.” Techar later clarified that he was told that Skorczewski was “stressed and overworked because of this case.”

Kieffer said she sent a subpoena to the BCA for Skorczewski’s testimony at Friday’s hearing and was told he was no longer employed there.

The officer said he was surprised to hear this, indicating that he had simply been on family medical leave for three months. He denied it was related to stress over the Hells Angels affair.

It is likely that significant litigation will continue in this case. The other two defendants, Jerand Paul French and Jake Paul Novaczyk, did not participate in the hearing but filed the same motions.

Judge Friday ordered the attorneys to prepare written briefs on the attorney-client issue by mid-January, after which he will issue a written decision. The court will also need to address any pending discovery disputes, and the defense could challenge the warrants.

All defendants except Newman have either posted bond or been released on supervised release.

The judge added a $400,000 parole option for Newman on Friday as an alternative to his $750,000 unconditional bail. But Beito said his client, a disabled veteran who doesn’t own property, won’t be able to post that either.

This story was updated at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 23 to clarify the prosecution’s position on monitoring calls and text messages in prison. It was originally published at 7:32 p.m. on November 24.