Justin “Mooch” DeLoretto spent years as a leader inside one of the country’s best-known outlaw motorcycle clubs before walking away to become a social worker who helps troubled teens. People are searching his name because his story sits at an unusual crossroads: gang life, biker culture, and community work all in one person. This article lays out what is actually documented about him, what remains unconfirmed, and why his name keeps popping up in 2026.
Background
Justin DeLoretto grew up in Oregon and, by his teenage years, was already deep in street culture. He was part of the hardcore punk and skinhead music scene as a kid, then moved into gang life, and later joined outlaw motorcycle clubs, including the Vagos Motorcycle Club before becoming a founding member of a Mongols Motorcycle Club charter in Portland. He eventually rose to Charter President and Regional Representative within the Mongols, one of the clubs the FBI and other law enforcement agencies classify as an outlaw motorcycle gang.
People search for him today mainly because of his 2023 memoir, The Ride of My Life: From Street Gangs to Motorcycle Clubs to Social Worker, and because of a steady stream of podcast and YouTube interviews where he talks openly about leaving the Mongols to pursue a career helping at-risk kids. That contrast, a former one-percenter club president now working in youth mental health, is what keeps driving curiosity about him.
His story also gets attention because it runs against the usual pattern people expect from outlaw motorcycle club culture. Most public accounts of one-percenter clubs come from law enforcement reports, court documents, or true-crime coverage. DeLoretto’s account is different because it comes from inside the club itself, told by someone who later chose an entirely different, service-oriented path. That first-person angle, paired with his current, verifiable career in social work, is a large part of why journalists, podcast hosts, and readers keep bringing his name back up.
Latest Update
As of AUGUST 11, 2026, here is what’s currently known. There is no confirmed breaking news, scandal, arrest, or major life event tied to Justin DeLoretto right now. His name is trending in search mainly because of ongoing media appearances tied to his book and his social work career, including a 2025 podcast interview on Inside the Life and a 2025 feature in his university’s alumni magazine. No new development beyond continued interviews, his book promotion, and his YouTube channel activity has been verified as of this date.
🗓️ Key Date: September 7, 2023 — DeLoretto’s memoir, The Ride of My Life, was published by DartFrog Books.
Full Profile
Family and Early Life
DeLoretto grew up in a close Italian family that he has described as loving but chaotic, with frequent large family gatherings. He has an identical twin brother named Jeremy, and the two roughhoused and competed with each other growing up, which he says shaped his early comfort with physical confrontation. His grandfather helped raise him and reportedly begged him to turn himself in to police at one point rather than stay on the run, a moment DeLoretto has said he still thinks about.
Career Path
Before social work, DeLoretto played guitar and managed a punk rock band called The Escaped, touring with the group for a period. He then spent years inside street gangs and later motorcycle clubs, eventually becoming a founding member and Charter President of a Mongols Motorcycle Club chapter in Oregon, and he later held a leadership role connected to a Missouri chapter as well. After leaving that life, he trained as a mental health therapist and now works providing Multisystemic Therapy, a structured, family-focused treatment approach, to at-risk youth. He is also a published author and hosts a YouTube channel under the name “The Mooch,” where he discusses his past and his current work.
Age
⚠️ DeLoretto’s exact birth date and current age are not confirmed in any publicly available source checked for this article. Reports describe over a decade of legal trouble starting in his teens through his mid-twenties, but no verified birth year has been published.
Religion
⚠️ No confirmed information about DeLoretto’s religious beliefs or affiliation is available. This detail is treated as unconfirmed rather than guessed.
Spouse/Partner
⚠️ No verified information about a spouse or partner has been found in available interviews, his publisher’s author bio, or his social media presence. This is unconfirmed.
Net Worth
⚠️ There is no reliable, sourced estimate of DeLoretto’s net worth. Any number circulating online without a clear financial source should be treated as a guess, not a fact.
Parents
DeLoretto has spoken about his grandfather’s role in raising him and about a close-knit Italian family environment, but the names and full details of his parents have not been confirmed in public sources reviewed for this article.
Height
⚠️ No confirmed height has been published for DeLoretto in interviews, his author bio, or press coverage.
Education
DeLoretto’s education path is well documented in his memoir and in a 2025 university alumni profile. He started at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, where he earned strong grades and academic honors. He then transferred to Whittier College in California to study psychology before transferring again to George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, where he completed a Master of Social Work degree.
Hometown/State of Origin
Available reporting ties DeLoretto’s early life, gang involvement, and motorcycle club founding to Oregon, particularly the Lane County and Portland areas. A precise birth city has not been confirmed. He is reported to currently live in Georgia, where he works as a social worker.
Official Social Media
DeLoretto’s verified public presence is his Instagram account: @og__mooch on Instagram. He also hosts a YouTube channel called “The Mooch” where he posts long-form interviews and commentary.
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Known For | Former Mongols MC Chapter President, now social worker and author |
| Book | The Ride of My Life (2023, DartFrog Books) |
| Education | Chemeketa Community College, Whittier College, George Fox University (MSW) |
| Current Work | Mental Health Therapist providing Multisystemic Therapy to at-risk youth |
| Reported Residence | Georgia |
| Age, Net Worth, Height, Religion, Spouse | Unconfirmed |
Reader Questions (FAQ)
Who is Justin DeLoretto?
Justin “Mooch” DeLoretto is a former Charter President of an Oregon chapter of the Mongols Motorcycle Club who left that life to become a licensed social worker. He now works with at-risk youth and wrote a 2023 memoir about his transformation.
What is Justin DeLoretto’s book about?
The Ride of My Life: From Street Gangs to Motorcycle Clubs to Social Worker covers his path from a troubled Oregon childhood through street gangs and outlaw motorcycle clubs, ending with his decision to pursue education and a career in social work.
Was Justin DeLoretto really in the Mongols Motorcycle Club?
Yes, this is well documented. He was a founding member of a Mongols chapter in Portland, Oregon, and rose to Charter President and Regional Representative before eventually leaving the club.
What does Justin DeLoretto do now?
He currently works as a mental health therapist, providing Multisystemic Therapy to at-risk youth, a structured treatment model aimed at families and teens dealing with serious behavioral issues. He is also an author and YouTube host.
Is Justin DeLoretto married?
There is no confirmed public information about a spouse or partner. This detail has not been verified through his interviews, publisher bio, or social media, so it should be treated as unknown rather than assumed.
Where did Justin DeLoretto go to school?
He attended Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, then transferred to Whittier College in California, and later completed a Master of Social Work degree at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.
Is Justin DeLoretto trending because of a scandal in 2026?
No confirmed scandal, arrest, or controversy has been verified as of August 11, 2026. Interest in his name is tied to continued interviews, his book, and his social work career rather than any new incident.
Wrap-Up
Justin DeLoretto’s story stands out because it does not fit a single box. He was, by his own account, a teenager caught up in gang violence, then a leader inside one of the most recognized outlaw motorcycle clubs in the country, and now a graduate-trained social worker helping the kind of at-risk youth he once was himself. His memoir and his ongoing interviews are the main reason his name keeps surfacing in searches, not any confirmed scandal or new controversy.
✅ The confirmed, documented parts of his life, his club leadership, his education, his book, and his current therapy work, are consistent across multiple independent sources, which is why they’re treated as fact in this article.
What isn’t confirmed matters just as much. Details like his exact age, height, religion, net worth, and relationship status simply are not part of the public record right now, and this article treats those gaps honestly instead of filling them with guesses. If verified information on those points becomes available, it can be added to a future update.
Smith Andrew is the Founder and Editor of BiographyCabal. He researches, writes, and edits accurate, engaging, and well-researched biographies of celebrities, entrepreneurs, athletes, influencers, politicians, and other notable public figures. Committed to factual reporting and quality storytelling, Smith ensures every article is reader-focused, informative, and based on reliable sources, helping readers discover the lives, careers, and achievements of influential people around the world.