Category: Set Free

The founding pastor of a Christian motorcycle club who was originally charged with street terrorism for his role in a 2008 brawl in Newport Beach with the Hells Angels has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and been sentenced to probation.

Philip Aguilar, 62, was sentenced Thursday and given credit for time he’d already spent in jail.

Phillip Aguilar, 61, pastor of the Anaheim-based Set Free Soldiers, pleaded not guilty to charges of being a felon in possession of a handgun, ammunition and brass knuckles, and of being an active gang participant.

Four other members of the group, including his son, Matthew, 29, pleaded not guilty to weapons and gang charges, and another pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.

The attempted murder charge against Aguilar was dropped, and prosecutors have charged him and two other members with weapons violations and street terrorism.

Aguilar said during the raid last week, a legally-registered pistol was discovered in his son’s, Phillip Aguilar Jr., room. Another son has brass knuckles that he got in Asia. He hopes once the gun is explained in court, charges will be dropped.

Although Set Free has been praised for its streetwise approach, its detractors say it is an autocratic organization that exerts too much control over its members by confiscating their belongings and forcing them to break off relationships with friends and families.

Law enforcement officials and former members say that the group has devolved into a motorcycle gang like any other.

The season of Lent is a time when some Christians give things up as they journey toward Easter. For the six weeks leading up to Easter, they go without chocolate or pizza or a favorite television show as part of their spiritual preparation. At Set Free Baptist Fellowship of San Diego, Lent comes every day of the year. The men and women of Set Free are giving up alcohol, drugs, homelessness and other afflictions that have taken them into devastating detours. They turn their lives over to Jesus — and to the program. The Set Free formula: Take the addicted

Set Free Christian Fellowship has helped turn around broken lives, but some close to the church accuse its leader of exercising rigid control over members. He says the criticism stems from a vendetta by lost souls.