An Outlaw's Road
Dublin Core
Title
An Outlaw's Road
Subject
Capital punishment
Gang members
Description
The article is a short account of a "outlaw." Clarence Smith was a convicted felon and spent nine years on death row. His story draws many parallels to Joseph Spaziano's according to Spaziano's lawyer. The article continues to briefly talk on Clarence and his work to ensure fairness in trials for felons from his biker gang.
Creator
Vielmetti, Bruce
Source
Vielmetti, Bruce, “An Outlaw's Road,” HIST298, https://hist299.umwhistory.org/admin/items/show/236.
Publisher
HIST 298, University of Mary Washington
Rights
The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source.
Format
1 JPG
300 DPI
Language
English
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
[heading]
An Outlaw's road
[subheading]
By Bruce Vielmetti Times Staff Writer
[start of the first column]
TAMPA -- Clarence Smith wears many marks of an Outlaw.
He's got the tattoos, the Harley-Davidson cap, the vest with the skull and crossed pistons and "1 percenter" patches.
He also carries the invisible scars of nine years on Louisiana's death row, and the distinction of being the only inmate to leave there a free man.
His story got little publicity last year, in part because Smith avoided it. While someone else might have held news conferences and gone on talk shows to decry injustice or seek redress, Smith got a Harley and followed Outlaw Motorcycle Club advice to "go party for a year and get my mind right."
Then authorities in Tampa last fall announced the indictment of 18 Outlaws and associates. At a biker funeral in Buffalo, Smith volunteered to come here and hold down the fort at the group's clubhouse of Busch Boulevard.
"I was the freshest (out of prison), the cleanest," Smith said. Life on the road was good, he said, "but you gotta have a purpose."
His was to support the "brothers" in the latest trial, and to try to get the Tampa chapter back on its feet. He was a daily spectator at the 41 1/2-month trial, where witnesses and prosecutors suggested his presence was just another part of the Outlaws ongoing criminal enterprise.
Smith, 51, recently broke his silence about the Tampa case, his own brush with execution, and that of Joseph "Crazy Joe"
[end of the first column]
[start of the second column]
A report in Spaziano's case is disputed. Page 5B
[text continued]
Spaziano, 50 another veteran Outlaw whose scheduled death in Florida's electric chair was delayed last week after questions were raised about the fairness of his conviction.
"The parallels in the two cases are striking," said Spaziano's attorney, Michal Mello. "I'm hoping the final parallel will be that in a retrial, Joe will be acquitted."
Smith said he plans to retire from the Outlaws Motorcycle Club soon, but remain a kind of ambassador for the group, which he says law enforcement has unfairly prosecuted for decades.
"They've got us targeted for extinction," Smith says. He blames federal racketeering, or RICO laws, that he says make any unpop-
[end of the second column]
[start of the third column]
ular group subject to persecution. "It's us today and y'all tomorrow."
Zero tolerance
That has been a familiar refrain of Outlaws and their sympathizers. But over the years, law enforcement has prosecuted dozens of members successfully for everything from prostitution to heinous murders.
In the recent Tampa case, four Daytona members were found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, and 10 Tampa Bay defendants were found guilty of drug and gun charges. However, half the jury was highly critical of the government's elaborate undercover sting that led to the drug charges.
Government witnesses portrayed the
Please see ROAD 7B
[end page]
An Outlaw's road
[subheading]
By Bruce Vielmetti Times Staff Writer
[start of the first column]
TAMPA -- Clarence Smith wears many marks of an Outlaw.
He's got the tattoos, the Harley-Davidson cap, the vest with the skull and crossed pistons and "1 percenter" patches.
He also carries the invisible scars of nine years on Louisiana's death row, and the distinction of being the only inmate to leave there a free man.
His story got little publicity last year, in part because Smith avoided it. While someone else might have held news conferences and gone on talk shows to decry injustice or seek redress, Smith got a Harley and followed Outlaw Motorcycle Club advice to "go party for a year and get my mind right."
Then authorities in Tampa last fall announced the indictment of 18 Outlaws and associates. At a biker funeral in Buffalo, Smith volunteered to come here and hold down the fort at the group's clubhouse of Busch Boulevard.
"I was the freshest (out of prison), the cleanest," Smith said. Life on the road was good, he said, "but you gotta have a purpose."
His was to support the "brothers" in the latest trial, and to try to get the Tampa chapter back on its feet. He was a daily spectator at the 41 1/2-month trial, where witnesses and prosecutors suggested his presence was just another part of the Outlaws ongoing criminal enterprise.
Smith, 51, recently broke his silence about the Tampa case, his own brush with execution, and that of Joseph "Crazy Joe"
[end of the first column]
[start of the second column]
A report in Spaziano's case is disputed. Page 5B
[text continued]
Spaziano, 50 another veteran Outlaw whose scheduled death in Florida's electric chair was delayed last week after questions were raised about the fairness of his conviction.
"The parallels in the two cases are striking," said Spaziano's attorney, Michal Mello. "I'm hoping the final parallel will be that in a retrial, Joe will be acquitted."
Smith said he plans to retire from the Outlaws Motorcycle Club soon, but remain a kind of ambassador for the group, which he says law enforcement has unfairly prosecuted for decades.
"They've got us targeted for extinction," Smith says. He blames federal racketeering, or RICO laws, that he says make any unpop-
[end of the second column]
[start of the third column]
ular group subject to persecution. "It's us today and y'all tomorrow."
Zero tolerance
That has been a familiar refrain of Outlaws and their sympathizers. But over the years, law enforcement has prosecuted dozens of members successfully for everything from prostitution to heinous murders.
In the recent Tampa case, four Daytona members were found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, and 10 Tampa Bay defendants were found guilty of drug and gun charges. However, half the jury was highly critical of the government's elaborate undercover sting that led to the drug charges.
Government witnesses portrayed the
Please see ROAD 7B
[end page]
Original Format
Newspaper
Vol. No./Issue No.
vol. 68, issue 6
Contributor of the Digital Item
Harrison, William
Student Editor of the Digital Item
Williams, Megan
Files
Citation
Vielmetti, Bruce, “An Outlaw's Road,” HIST299, accessed July 12, 2026, https://hist299.umwhistory.org/items/show/236.