Robert Holloway, the owner of the Road Dog Cycle shop in Denair and a one-time sheriff’s deputy, pled guilty to racketeering and extortion charges Tuesday in federal court.

As part of his plea deal Holloway, 62, has to forfeit his interest in the Road Dog Cycle shop, which prosecutors said was a hang-out for outlaw motorcycle gangs. In exchange, prosecutors will ask for a low level of sentencing, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark E. Cullers, who helped prosecute the case. The maximum sentence for racketeering is 20 years.

In addition to Holloway’s plea, his son Brent Holloway, 36, of Turlock and Anthony Fantacone, 68, of Boiling Springs, S.C., entered guilty pleas to charges against them.

Holloway once served as a deputy with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department until he was injured in a work-related crash. He was previously tried and acquitted on murder charges in Stanislaus County. He had been charged by a federal grand jury of running a chop shop out of his Denair store and using extortion and violence to collect debts. He was arrested in July 2008, along with 11 other men, after a federal grand jury returned indictments against them.

Tuesday’s hearing was supposed to determine if wire tap evidence obtained during the investigation would be allowed into trial, but instead the three defendants entered guilty pleas.

Holloway entered a guilty plea to four acts of racketeering, Cullers said. He admitted trafficking in stolen motorcycle parts, collecting extensions of credit by extortionate means and conspiring to obstruct justice. According to court documents, Holloway admitted that between Jan. 1, 1997 and March 1, 2008, he was engaged in a racketeering enterprise through his Denair motorcycle business.

Brent F. Holloway entered a guilty plea to trafficking in stolen motorcycle parts. According to court documents, Brent Holloway admitted that between Aug. 3, 2006 and Dec. 4, 2007, he possessed, or aided and abetted the possession, of motorcycle parts delivered to Road Dog Cycle, knowing that an identification number for the parts had been tampered with.

Fantacone pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of blackmail. According to court documents, he admitted that on or about Oct. 11, 2004, in exchange for the promise of future employment with Robert Holloway, he failed to report the extortionate collection of a debt.

Both the Holloways and Fantacone will be sentenced on Sept. 13 in the federal court in Fresno.

The case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Central Valley Gang Impact Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cullers and Laurel J. Montoya.

To contact Sabra Stafford, e-mail sstafford@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2002.