PENSACOLA — A 43-year-old Outlaws Motorcycle Club member who detonated an explosive device during a brawl with rival bikers in a Fort Walton Beach parking lot, damaging a Jimmy John’s restaurant and injuring one of its employees, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison.
Gregory E. Simonds Jr. of Pensacola was sentenced on the charge of arson by means of an explosive causing personal injury, United States Attorney John P. Heekin for the Northern District of Florida announced. “This successful prosecution is the result of the close coordination between our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, who swiftly identified and caught this dangerous criminal so my office could bring him to justice,” Heekin said.
Court documents show the altercation occurred on Feb. 15, 2025, in the parking lot of Emerald Coast Harley Davidson on Beal Parkway in Fort Walton Beach, where Simonds clashed with a group associated with the Pagans Motorcycle Club. The explosive he set off damaged the adjacent Jimmy John’s building and injured one employee. Simonds drove away but was quickly identified and arrested.
Officers who searched his car recovered four more explosive devices, two guns, narcotics and drug paraphernalia, and an Outlaws Motorcycle Club vest. A subsequent search of his residence turned up additional explosive devices, explosive-making material and equipment, and evidence that Simonds had been manufacturing and selling explosives.
“This case could certainly have ended much differently. When someone chooses to use an explosive device in a public place, they put innocent lives at risk,” said Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden. “I’m proud of the outstanding work of our investigators, in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, ATF, and FDLE, in building a case that led to this sentence.”
The case was investigated jointly by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Alicia H. Forbes prosecuted the case.
Heekin said the prosecution falls under Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative targeting violent crime, cartels and transnational criminal organizations. “Through Operation Take Back America, the Department of Justice is devoting its full might toward protecting our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, like this defendant, and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute anyone who threatens the safety of our citizens,” Heekin said.