The FBI and federal prosecutors say they cracked a crooked biker gang from the inside, recruiting more than a dozen current and former members to cooperate against leaders of the Devils Diciples Motorcycle Club, according to court records.

Investigators say they are armed with wiretapped conversations, evidence seized during more than a dozen raids and controlled drug purchases from members of a gang that had powerful friends, including a corrupt judge and law-enforcement officers.

"The government has a staggering amount of evidence to prove these charges," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Saima Mohsin and Eric Straus wrote in a federal court filing.

The court records offer a candid peek inside an allegedly violent biker gang whose members are accused of committing three murders, brass-knuckle beatings and spreading fear across seven states.

The filings emerged as alleged gang leader and national president Jeff "Fat Dog" Smith waits in the Wayne County Jail for a hearing Thursday in federal court. Prosecutors want the Mount Clemens man jailed pending trial, contending he's a danger to the community and a flight risk...