A group of over a dozen supporters accompanied President Donald J. Trump to a Manhattan courthouse on Monday. Among them was Chuck Zito, a former president of a outlaw motorcycle gang in New York City who had previously served time in prison on drug charges.
Chuck Zito helped establish the New York Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels in the early 1980s. The Justice Department labeled the Hells Angels as a criminal enterprise and connected the New York chapter to the Gambino crime family. After leaving the biker group, Mr. Zito pursued a career in Hollywood in hopes of becoming a movie star.
President Trump has shown a fondness for tough bikers, even addressing a rally of bikers in Washington in 2016 prior to the election. Bikers for Trump participated in various “Stop the Steal” rallies following Mr. Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.
In addition to Chuck Zito, the courtroom entourage included several Trump allies who are facing criminal charges.
Among them were Boris Epshteyn, a legal adviser indicted in an Arizona case related to efforts to maintain Mr. Trump’s presidency after the 2020 election, and Bernard Kerik, the former commissioner of the New York Police Department who was imprisoned for tax-related offenses and later pardoned by President Trump. The group was so large that Mr. Epshteyn had to help organize seating arrangements.
Chuck Zito has firsthand experience with the criminal justice system, having served a prison sentence from 1985 to 1991 for drug conspiracy charges. In recent years, he has transitioned to a new career as a stuntman and occasional actor, notably portraying Chucky “The Enforcer” Pancamo in the HBO series “Oz.”
Mr. Zito is known as a tough individual with connections in both New York and Hollywood. He once trained actor Mickey Rourke in boxing and was one of the few non-Mafia members to attend mob boss John Gotti’s wake in Queens when he passed away from cancer in 2002.
