In August 2004, after being released from prison following his conviction on gun and drug charges, Kellestine become the "sargento de armas" of the Canadian Bandidos, and was displeased at the way his former protegee Muscedere now overshadowed him. Edwards wrote that outlaw biker clubs claim that they are all about freedom, but in reality outlaw biker clubs are rigid, rule-bound organizations run in a quasi-militaristic fashion with a strict hierarchy and rules governing every aspect of the members' existence. Within that context, making Kellestine the sergeant-at-arms responsible to president Muscedere, a man whom Kellestine had given orders to when he was the Annihilators' president was the source of great resentment to him. One of Muscedere's neighbours in Chatham remarked to Edwards: "The puppet has cut his strings". During the Taste of the Danforth festival in Toronto in August 2004, Glenn "Wrongway" Atkinson met another Bandido, George "Crash" Kriarakis, to tell him he was planning on leaving the Bandidos, saying that Muscedere had lost contact with reality, being short-sighted and ill-tempered; Kellestine was dangerous, and Sandham seemed like a shady character. Atkinson wanted Kriarakis to follow him into the Outlaws, and when the latter refused, Atkinson remarked: "These guys are going to get you killed one day".