A federal judge sentenced a 
member of the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang to 15 years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine in exchange for stolen firearms, according to authorities.
U.S.District Judge Jesus G. Bernal last week sentenced Brian Shane Henson, 40, of Merced.
In early 2017, while Henson was a prospective member of the Merced Chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, he negotiated a deal to sell one pound of methamphetamine and four ounces of marijuana in exchange for 20 stolen firearms, according to court documents.
Unbeknownst to Henson, he negotiated the deal with an undercover agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On January 25, 2017, after negotiating the deal for about one week, Henson and co-defendant Hussein Fawas Eltareb, a full-patch member of the Hells Angels, drove approximately seven hours from Merced to Needles, California to meet the undercover agent.
After arriving in Needles, according to prosecutors, Henson gave the undercover agent one pound of methamphetamine and one-quarter pound of marijuana, and Henson took possession of the 20 firearms, which he placed in the trunk of Eltareb’s car, according to officials.
Immediately after the exchange, law enforcement officers arrested Henson and Eltareb.
At this time, authorities recovered a loaded .38-caliber revolver, which was hidden next to the driver’s seat in Eltareb’s vehicle.
Henson pled guilty in October to the distribution of methamphetamine and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and was sentenced to the mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years.
After a bench trial in December, Judge Bernal found Eltareb, 27, of Merced, guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Judge Bernal is scheduled to sentence Eltareb on May 21, at which time he too will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.