ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ

After being in and out of jail for 14 years, former gang member and motorcycle club leader Justin DeLoretto transformed his life, becoming a social worker dedicated to helping at-risk youth and tough guys like himself By Victoria Payne, Photo by Brenton Salo

In July 2021, Justin “Mooch” DeLoretto stood in line at a Subway in Indiana when a member of the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club aimed a loaded gun at his chest. Minutes earlier, he and 30 of his fellow Mongols had been enjoying a warm breeze and the freedom of the open road. Now, he was frozen, wondering if he’d survive what should have been an ordinary day.

DeLoretto’s 2023 memoir

DeLoretto watched the scene in slow motion – employees fled to the back room, a shocked family cowered in a booth, and rival club members sat on high alert. His allies were also ready, clutching their vests and warning the shooter to back off. He thought about his two close friends who had been murdered in a similar incident only months before, and he worried. “Would this scared kid – motivated by a turf war – get himself killed? Or worse, would he incite a shootout where innocent people might die?”

A lifetime of fighting had prepared DeLoretto for many things, but this time it was his power of perception that came to his aid. Could he talk the gunman down? He didn’t know. But he had to try.

Harrowing moments like this fill DeLoretto’s 2023 memoir, The Ride of My Life: From Street Gangs to Motorcycle Clubs to Social Worker. Much like that day in Subway, his life has been a battle between the flinch to fight and the urge to heal.

A Tough Guy

DeLoretto learned to fight early. He grew up roughhousing with his identical twin, Jeremy, and through sports like boxing and wrestling learned to execute punches and takedowns with precision. When he joined a street gang in high school, he was well-prepared for the initiation – defending against simultaneous attacks from senior gang members. According to DeLoretto, his tough-guy persona saved him from the invisibility that adolescents fear. “I went from being the nerdy outcast to having a reputation where people showed me respect,” he says. “All of a sudden people were recognizing me, and I had an image.”

His reputation gave him power, but it came with a cost. At 16, he was charged with juvenile felony assault and received three years probation. At 17, after another high-profile fight, he fled from authorities. His grandfather, a man he loved and who helped raise him, begged DeLoretto to turn himself in but he refused, not wanting to go to jail. “Me running broke his heart,” he writes in his book. “I don’t think I will ever forget it.”

Years of gang life followed, culminating in an existential crisis. At 24, gang leaders ordered him to carry out a retaliatory hit after his brother was nearly beaten to death. He desperately wanted to avenge Jeremy but realized the risk was only to his life, not theirs. Did he even matter to them? The answer to his question landed like a sucker punch. He bought a large Gatorade and a bottle of sleeping pills and went to bed. In one of many miracles, his ex-girlfriend discovered him, called an ambulance and saved his life.

When DeLoretto awoke in the hospital, the second chance felt real, and he left street gangs for good. Soon after, he found a new home in the Mongols Motorcycle Club, which offered him something more than an identity – it offered him belonging.

There’s a logic to motorcycle clubs that outsiders rarely understand, according to DeLoretto. Men leaving fraternal networks like the military or gangs are drawn to structure and brotherhood. The Mongols offered both. In addition to a shared love of motorcycles and fellowship, they expected members to work full time, work out three times a week, and stay away from hard drugs. But their outlaw reputation and chronic turf wars made DeLoretto the enemy of hostile clubs and law enforcement alike. His membership in the Mongols kick-started a new round of arrests and jail time, with charges ranging from assault to menacing to reckless driving.

A Better Man

The last time DeLoretto went to jail, a familiar prison guard told him something that changed his life. “I lost a bet,” he told DeLoretto. “I didn’t think you were coming back.” Those words conveyed a message he needed to hear – he had what it took to change his life, and even his jailer could see it. He looked around and decided to do better. He decided he was better.

DeLoretto wanted to make a difference with his life. He learned that the field of social work accepted people like him – those with felony records and many visible tattoos. It took six years and three universities to complete his undergraduate degree, but he did it. In 2015, he graduated from ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox’s Accelerated Online Degree Program, and two years later earned his master of social work degree from ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox as well.

“Every day we’re helping kids change the path they’re on. It resonates with me because no one ever came and talked to me about these things, and maybe if someone had, it might’ve made a difference.”

For the last eight years, DeLoretto has worked with at-risk youth, helping them avoid detention and foster care. As an MSW clinical supervisor at Grace Harbour Behavioral Health in Savannah, Georgia, he now supervises therapists who train parents to maintain boundaries long after their work together ends. DeLoretto is proud of the amazing outcomes he has witnessed firsthand. “Every day we’re helping kids change the path they’re on,” he says. “It resonates with me because no one ever came and talked to me about these things, and maybe if someone had, it might’ve made a difference.”

As his career grew, other areas of his life flourished. He developed new passions like jiu-jitsu and began a meaningful relationship with his future wife, Ashley. He distanced himself from the Mongols, but leaving the brotherhood was difficult. He decided to use his newfound skills to mediate between rival clubs and began doing major sit-downs. “I had to read people and take the high road,” DeLoretto says. “I had to think, ‘Why is he thinking like this?’” He had no way of knowing that one day he’d ask these same questions to save his own life and the lives of others.

One More Miracle

At Subway, seconds from disaster, DeLoretto reasoned with the gunman. “Did he really want to die? Wouldn’t he rather take the fight outside?” In a miracle moment, the shooter lowered his gun, and DeLoretto and everyone else walked away unharmed. Soon after, he retired from the Mongols and began a new chapter of his life – literally – with the publication of his life story.

DeLoretto’s struggle to exit the club gave him compassion for the difficulty other men face. His career, family and jiu-jitsu club eased the transition, giving him purpose, but he knew it was not that easy for everyone. Today, DeLoretto helps ex-members from rival motorcycle clubs process their losses and find common ground through . Here, his guests rely on his therapy skills. “We’re just a bunch of guys talking about our feelings,” he says.

DeLoretto is also driven to help others who feel lost or insignificant. In addition to helping at-risk youth, he supports veterans, moderates a recovery group, and has become a devoted animal rescue dad. He and Ashley share their home with four rescue dogs, including 18-year-old Marco, a Maltese he adopted after learning he’d been abandoned. “He’s blind and deaf and sleeps in my bed,” DeLoretto says. “We’re trying to give him the best few years of his life.”

Living his best life is something DeLoretto and Marco have in common. Since publishing his book, DeLoretto has been able to share his story with thousands of people and collaborate with others who believe in healing old wounds. In early 2024, his criminal record was expunged – an important step in his redemption story. Looking back, he’s grateful for the hard lessons and hopeful his journey inspires others. His advice to his younger self? “Never give up,” he says. “Times get hard, but you gotta push through.”