U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs | U.S. Department of Justice
A Romanian national, Marius Lazar, has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for his involvement in a racketeering and drug trafficking conspiracy. The sentencing took place in the Eastern District of Texas and was announced by U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.
Lazar, aged 51 from Bucharest, Romania, received a 300-month sentence from U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone on January 15, 2025.
Court documents and trial evidence revealed that Lazar was a founding member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club's local chapter. This transnational outlaw motorcycle gang originated in the United States and operates on six continents. Lazar joined a conspiracy through a fellow Hells Angels member from New Zealand to purchase over 400 kilograms of cocaine from someone they believed to be a powerful drug trafficker but who was actually an undercover DEA agent.
During negotiations for the cocaine purchase, Lazar solicited the undercover agent to kill two members of a rival motorcycle club in Romania. He also offered military-grade equipment including rifles and grenades to be used against U.S. police officers. The conspiracy involved nearly $1 million sent to the United States via bank wires and Bitcoin transfers as payment for drugs and murders.
On November 17, 2023, Lazar was convicted by a federal jury in Beaumont for conspiracy to commit racketeering, import cocaine into the United States, and commit money laundering.
Co-defendants Murray Michael Matthews and Marc Patrick Johnson remain at large.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Marshals Service, IRS – Criminal Investigations with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Rapp and Conor Mulroe along with VCRS Trial Attorney Jared Engelking prosecuted the case.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs collaborated with Romanian law enforcement for Lazar's arrest and extradition.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation aimed at dismantling high-level criminal organizations threatening the United States through coordinated efforts across various law enforcement agencies.
