Former Vagos biker club president Patrick William Ouellette, 30, was sentenced Tuesday in Carson City District Court to 16 years in prison for assault and with a deadly weapon stemming from a 2011 beating case against a fellow member, the district attorney's office reported.

At sentencing, the defense argued that Ouellette should receive probation because of his lack of criminal history and because Harlan Hendry, who participated in the beating, was not prosecuted, according to a news release. The defense acknowledged that Ouellette had made some bad choices, but argued that Ouellette has already lost everything, and prison could not punish him more than he has already been punished.

Deputy District Attorney Melanie Porter sought the maximum sentence and argued that the court should send a clear message that violent crime will not be tolerated in this community. To do otherwise would be to send a message to Ouellette and others that type of behavior in this community was acceptable.

Judge Wilson agreed that Ouellette showed no acceptance of responsibility and no remorse, and sentenced Ouellette to 76 to 192 months in prison. Judge Wilson, in imposing sentence, stated it was his perception that Ouellette demonstrated a loss of control, and he found the level of cruelty and brutality associated with the crime to be striking. He further stated that Ouellette terrorized at least Cody McChesney, and that it was his overall impression that Ouellette’s actions showed a “depraved or malignant heart.”

“The District Attorney’s Office through this prosecution, and the court through this sentence, sent a clear message that this type of brutal, violent, vigilante behavior will not be tolerated in Carson City. This office will continually bring to justice those who choose a violent gang life style, whether it be street gangs or motorcycle gangs,” said District Attorney Neil A. Rombardo in a released statement.

Ouellette was arrested on March 2, 2012, after an investigation into allegations that he kidnapped, beat and tortured Cody McChesney between late August and early September, 2011. McChesney, and witnesses Heather Fenton-Green and Harlan Hendry, testified at trial that McChesney and Green were walking on Stanford Drive in Carson City when Ouellette and Hendry, both members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club, pulled up to them in a blue Ford Taurus and forced them into the vehicle. While inside the vehicle, Ouellette repeatedly struck McChesney in the head with a gun, causing the large gash on his head.

McChesney subsequently attempted to flee by jumping out of the vehicle near Empire Elementary School, but was re-captured by Ouellette and Hendry, and taken to the garage of another Vagos member where Ouellette and Hendry beat and tortured McChesney for several hours. Following the beating, McChesney laid on the floor of the garage, in a large pool of his own blood, going in and out of consciousness. Witnesses described McChesney as pale and bloody, and heard him making moaning noises, like someone who was too weak to scream.