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A Greensburg baker who served six years in prison for a 1977 murder in Greensburg is one of 73 members of the Pagans motorcycle gang arrested on federal racketeering charges after a brawl last weekend at a rival gang's motorcycle and tattoo expo near New York City left one man dead.

Warren Schaller, 51, of 232 S. Third St., Youngwood, was arraigned on racketeering charges this week before U.S. Magistrate Michael Orenstein in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., Joseph Conway, head of the Long Island branch of the U.S. Attorney's Office, said Thursday.

Schaller is being held in Nassau County Jail on Long Island without bail pending a hearing in federal court next week, Conway said.

Schaller, who is president of Schaller's Bakery of Greensburg, was identified by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn as one of the Pagan Outlaw Motorcycle Club members who attacked the Hells Angels Hellraiser Ball in Plainview, N.Y., on Saturday.

A Hells Angel from New York is charged with the death of a Pagan from Lancaster, Lancaster County, who was shot and stabbed during the melee at an exhibition hall about 25 miles east of New York City. Five gang members were stabbed, five were shot and two suffered heart attacks in the attack that began about 4:15 p.m. and lasted only 10 minutes, federal authorities reported.

Schaller is charged by the Nassau County District Attorney's office with three felonies — attempted gang assault, criminal possession of a weapon and riot in the first degree. A spokesman for the district attorney said Schaller could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the state charges.

A law enforcement officer in Westmoreland County who is involved in undercover work said Schaller has been a member of the Pagans for many years. The officer did not know whether Schaller was an officer of any Pagans club.

Schaller is no stranger to violent crime. In March 1978, he was convicted of third-degree murder in the July 2, 1977, shooting death of 21-year-old Michael Pierce outside the former Christopher Columbus Club at 251 W. Otterman St. He served time in a state prison from February 1979 to May 1985, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Another area man who faces federal racketeering charges in connection with the Pagans attack is Dennis "Rooster" Katona, 35, of Large, Allegheny County. Katona, who operated the East Coast Cycles Inc. store on Route 51 in Rostraver Township, was identified by the U.S. Attorney's office as being the sergeant-at-arms for the Pagans' Mother Club, the national governing board for the Pagans.

Katona was arraigned on the federal charges and is being held without bond pending a hearing next week, Conway said.

Katona also was charged by Nassau County prosecutors with attempted gang assault and riot in the first degree. If convicted on those charges, he could serve up to 19 years in prison.

The families of Katona and Schaller could not be reached for comment yesterday. No phone listing was available for either suspect.

Nassau County courts have not yet held hearings on the state charges filed against Schaller, Katona and the other Pagans arrested in the brawl, the District Attorney's Office said. Those proceedings are pending the disposition of the federal hearings facing the Pagans, he said.

The sheriff's department did not know whether Schaller and Katona made the trip to New York City together but reported there were several vans and cars with plates from Pennsylvania, Maryland and other states outside a Long Island restaurant where the Pagans gathered before the attack. Some of the Pagans arrested told federal authorities that the attack was authorized by the Pagans' Mother Club.

The federal complaint filed against the Pagans said about 80 members rode in several vans to the exhibit hall. Armed with clubs, baseball bats and guns, they rushed into the exhibition, turning over tables and hitting some of the 700 people inside the hall during the 10-minute attack.

A Nassau County sheriff's department spokesman said he did not know whether Schaller fired his weapon, what Schaller and Katona did during the brawl, or if the two men were arrested inside the exhibition hall. Police reported that 40 people were arrested inside the hall and in vans that were parked outside the building, while another 23 were arrested about a mile from the exhibition hall.

When Katona was arrested, federal prosecutors said he had a map of the exhibition hall in plain view with the sites marked where the Hells Angels' exhibit tables would be located, an indication that the hall had been scouted before the attack began at about 4:15 p.m.

Police seized several handguns and two loaded, 12-gauge shotguns from the Pagans' vans, the complaint stated.

The war between the Pagans and Hells Angels dates back to the 1950s, according to the federal prosecutor's complaint. The Pagans, who the U.S. Attorney's office says engage in racketeering activity such as arson, robbery, assault, extortion and drug dealing, seek to assault rival motorcycle gangs, particularly the Hells Angels.

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