True Detective

Colin Gunn, an underworld godfather who ordered the execution of two grandparents, has now had his social networking site closed down

Sunday 31 January 2010

In one posting,Colin Gunn, 42, said: “I will be home one day and I can’t wait to look into certain people’s eyes and see the fear of me being there.” In another message he wrote: “It’s good to have an outlet to let you know how I am, some of you will be in for a good slagging, some have let me down badly, and will be named and shamed, f****** rats.”


Colin Gunn, an underworld godfather who ordered the execution of two grandparents, has now had his social networking site closed down by prison bosses.It follows last week's revelation that one of the killers of teenager Ben Kinsella used Facebook to taunt his victim's family.The Sunday Times reported that the 42-year-old said in one posting: "I will be home one day and I can't wait to look into certain people's eyes and see the fear of me being there."Gunn, from Nottingham, was jailed over the revenge murders of John and Joan Stirland in 2004.According to the Ministry of Justice, prisoners are prohibited from accessing social networking sites.A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We are extremely concerned that prisoners are able to update Facebook and other social networking sites either through illicit technology or via outside contacts."We recognise that it is deeply distressing for victims and their families and friends and we have made it clear to Facebook that we do not think it acceptable or appropriate for these sites to remain active, something Facebook agrees with."Jade Braithwaite, jailed for knifing to death Ben Kinsella, 16, used Facebook to taunt his victim's family.Earlier this month, relatives of victims of violent crime called for the introduction of electronic anti-social behaviour orders, or "E-Asbos".Justice Secretary Jack Straw said he was seeking a meeting with Facebook bosses."I have sought the assistance of Facebook to have these profiles removed and we will continue to press for removal of these," he said.
"I am also hoping to meet with Ofcom, Facebook, victims' representatives."

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Luis "Louie Lou" Ojeda, called a large-scale cocaine trafficker

Saturday 30 January 2010

Luis "Louie Lou" Ojeda, called a large-scale cocaine trafficker by federal officials and a stellar landlord and family man by his supporters, was sentenced Wednesday to 12½ years in federal prison and five years supervised release.
Chief U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson also ordered Ojeda to forfeit $19,309 in cash that was seized from him. A jury had found Ojeda guilty in October of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, and possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. He has been held in federal custody since his conviction. Ojeda was a target of a federal, state and local investigation, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, into cocaine trafficking in eastern Connecticut. Investigators used surveillance, controlled purchases of cocaine, GPS tracking devices and court-authorized wiretaps to build their case. They seized 9 kilograms of cocaine and more than $35,000 in cash.
The investigation revealed that Ojeda purchased more than 20 kilograms of cocaine over a period of several years from co-defendant Anthony Morse of Gales Ferry, which he sold to customers. Near the end of the conspiracy, when Morse was having trouble procuring cocaine from his sources, Morse began to obtain cocaine through Ojeda, who had alternate sources of supply.

Ojeda faced a mandatory minimum prison term of at least 10 years. New London prosecutor Paul J. Narducci, who is cross-deputized as a special assistant U.S. attorney, argued that Ojeda had put "a lot of cocaine into the streets of New London."

Gambling records seized from the area's two casinos indicated that Ojeda had spent $1.7 million at Foxwoods Resort Casino between 2001 and 2007 and $1.3 million at Mohegan Sun during the same time period. Ojeda's attorney, Jonathan Einhorn, asked for a reduction in the sentence, arguing that Ojeda was not a drug dealer of the same caliber of others convicted of the same offenses. He said Ojeda was a legitimate contractor who had rehabilitated several New London properties to provide safe and affordable housing for low-income families. Ojeda's family members asked the judge for mercy, and Ojeda also spoke at length. He apologized for embarrassing his family and vowed to improve himself in prison.
"I will find a way to better myself and get back to my family a better man," he said. Following Ojeda's conviction, Morse pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. He was sentenced on Jan. 10 to 6 years of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release

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Five men were arrested and a “substantial” sum of cash was also seized during subsequent raids at addresses in Teesside and County Durham.


Five men were arrested and a “substantial” sum of cash was also seized during subsequent raids at addresses in Teesside and County Durham.Police pulled over the driver of a Range Rover for talking on a mobile on Albert Road, Middlesbrough on Wednesday.Officers searched the vehicle and discovered around £500-worth of what was believed to be class A drugs. police retrieved a holdall bag from the car.Five men, aged 18, 21, 22 and 24, were arrested by the roadside, Cleveland Police confirmed.DC Andy McLoughlin said: “Officers pulled over a car in a random check and found a quantity of what are believed to be class A drugs worth approximately £500.Subsequent inquiries have resulted in the searching of a number of properties in the Cleveland and County Durham areas and a substantial amount of cash has been recovered.”All five men have now been bailed pending further investigations.

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Raymond Chan, displayed signs of intoxication and when asked to exit the vehicle


Raymond Chan, displayed signs of intoxication and when asked to exit the vehicle, he was unable to stand by himself, police said. Chan stated that he had used cocaine a couple hours prior and that he had cocaine and Xanax in his pockets. He was charged with driving while intoxicated by drugs, criminal possession of a controlled substance and several traffic violations. He is due at First District Court in Hempstead on Jan. 29.

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Vernon V. Ellefson Jr. was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine resulting in death

Vernon V. Ellefson Jr. was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine resulting in death, and another count of distribution of heroin resulting in death.

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Margarito Saucedo, 37, was on his way to the Chicago area to deliver the drugs

Margarito Saucedo, 37, was on his way to the Chicago area to deliver the drugs when he was pulled over, and the second man, Moses Moreno, 41, was the intended recipient of the drugs. He was arrested later in Aurora.The pair have been charged in federal court in Springfield with conspiring to distribute cocaine.The traffic stop happened about 10:30 a.m. Jan. 11. An Illinois State Police trooper pulled over a tractor-trailer with Texas license plates between Elkhart and Lincoln. The truck, which was heading north, had an expired registration sticker on the trailer, authorities said.
The trooper talked to the driver, Saucedo, and asked for his logbook, driver’s license and other paperwork, according to an affidavit filed in federal court. The trooper determined Saucedo had no valid driver’s license and that he had been arrested previously for a drug violation and aggravated assault with a weapon.
During a search of the truck, the trooper allegedly found what was described as a “trapped compartment” in the bunk area of the truck. Inside, the trooper found 10 packages of suspected cocaine, each one about a kilogram in weight, according to the affidavit.

Saucedo allegedly told the trooper later he was to be paid $1,000 per kilogram to deliver the drugs to a man at a motel in Aurora. He allegedly told police he had delivered eight to 10 kilograms on at least five prior occasions to the man.

Agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration went to the Aurora hotel, where they reportedly watched Moreno retrieve what he thought were the drugs from Saucedo.

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Jamaican drug gang Shower Posse leaders would arrange for buyers to meet Amilcar Caballero

Amilcar Caballero was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance; Calle-Munoz was sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance; Kida was sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled dangerous substance; Lewis was sentenced to time served after being in the Passaic County Jail for 581 days awaiting the case’s resolution, after pleading guilty to conspiracy, intent to distribute and unlawful possession of a weapon.Watson was sentenced to three years in state prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute, conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Amilcar Caballero in the case, was a bit more specific. “There were serious questions about the integrity of one of the state’s most important witnesses,” Breite said outside of court. He declined to say which witness, or what the problem was. “My client was never found to be in possession of drugs. There were no drugs found in his vehicle. There were no drugs founds in his home. He has no prior criminal record,” Breite added.Authorities alleged that leaders of the notorious Jamaican drug gang Shower Posse would arrange for buyers to meet Caballero, 37, along his assigned route, which included stops in Teaneck and other nearby towns. Authorities said it was in Teaneck where they witnessed Caballero drop off packages of cocaine. Caballero was arrested at the UPS hub in Secaucus after he finished his route on March 21. He was charged with drug distribution and conspiracy and fired by UPS.Investigators said at the time of the arrests that the group was led by Oral Watson, a 33-year-old Jamaican national from Paterson, and distributed crack and powder cocaine to dealers throughout Passaic, Bergen and Morris counties. Also arrested was Dwight Donald Lewis, 39, of Paterson, who leased an apartment in Hackensack that the gang used as a stash house, authorities said. Laura Kida, 41, of Pine Brook, and Fabricio Zambrano, 29, and Carlos Calle-Munoz, 28, of Dover, were also arrested as associates of Watson and Lewis.All of the defendants entered guilty pleas to various charges in October and were sentenced Thursdayby state Superior Court Assignment Judge Donald J. Volkert in Paterson.

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Coco (coconut) Candy José Pena, and his longtime friend and colleague Cesar Rodriguez, 33, from the Bronx, New York, were arrested

"I didn’t know having candy was a crime," he said.

José Pena, a 48-year-old plumber, and his longtime friend and colleague Cesar Rodriguez, 33, from the Bronx, New York, were arrested on January 15 after police found a bag of what they thought was cocaine, reports The New York Post.The "drugs" were finally tested five days later and determined to be popular Coco (coconut) Candy. The charges were dropped.The ordeal began when the pair stopped at convenience store on the way to a party. When they came out of the store police asked to search their Ford minivan."I said ‘Go search.’ I even opened the door," Rodriguez told The Post.An officer rummaged around, came out holding a "Hello Kitty" sandwich bag, and shouted "Bingo!" the men said."It’s only candy!" Rodriguez said, as the cops handcuffed him and Pena, and several other police cars rushed to the scene.Rodriguez said he bought a 50-cent bag of Coco Candy, a hard coconut-based treat, almost every day. Because it easily crumbles, he puts it in a sandwich bag.
"Can you test it? Can you taste it?" Rodriguez asked the cops. "Shut up!" they replied.The two men were jailed for cocaine possession. Pena got out after three days, but Rodriguez was held two more, because he could not make $5000 bail the judge imposed on him due to a prior robbery conviction, the New York Daily News reported.The two men are now planning to file a $2 million (A$2.21m) lawsuit, the Daily News reported.The men’s lawyer, Neal Wallerstein, said the cops could have realized their mistake quickly."That’s the reason why they have a field-test kit," he said, referring to the New York Police Department’s portable drug identification equipment.The Bronx District Attorney’s office confirmed that the case was dropped after authorities realized there were no drugs. The NYPD had no comment.
Rodriguez said he still loves Coco Candy.

"It’s really sweet," he said. "I could get addicted to this candy."

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Reynaldo "Pichy" Laureano, 36, of Allen Place, was one of 56 Hartford-area people arrested

Reynaldo "Pichy" Laureano, 36, of Allen Place, was one of 56 Hartford-area people arrested last year after a yearlong federal crackdown on drugs and guns called Operation Solid Gold.Laureano pleaded guilty in November to a single count of possession with the intent to distribute heroin. He was sentenced in Bridgeport by U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton.Prosecutors said that a tap on Laureano's mobile telephone between September and November 2008 and near continual surveillance showed that Laureano's life was dominated by the drug business. They said he and his associates spoke continuously of the distribution of heroin and cocaine, their concern about law enforcement and the use of violence against competitors.

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Dion Anthony, 25, of Williams Street, New London, pleaded guilty in U.S. District court Friday to distribution of cocaine base.

Dion Anthony, 25, of Williams Street, New London, pleaded guilty in U.S. District court Friday to distribution of cocaine base.Authorities said Anthony sold crack cocaine on three occasions last summer during controlled purchases by federal and local law enforcement officers. Officers said they discovered more than 2 ounces of powder cocaine, nearly an ounce of crack cocaine and 15 marijuana plants when they served an arrest warrant at Anthony's house on Oct. 30.
Anthony faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $2 million when he is sentenced April 10.

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Sarah Griffiths, 27, an ex-carer, took a mobile, eight sim cards, three wraps of cannabis and 57 tablets of Buprenorphine into Everthorpe Prison

Sarah Griffiths, 27, an ex-carer, took a mobile, eight sim cards, three wraps of cannabis and 57 tablets of Buprenorphine into Everthorpe Prison near Hull.Griffiths hid the mobile in her pants and posed as a visitor to a man she didn’t know, who was doing 33 months for robbery, Hull Crown Court heard.The drugs had a street value of £295 but inside prison were worth an estimated £885, said Ms Jobes.Ms Griffiths, of Eltham Crescent, pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of conveying a telephone to a prisoner on July 11 2009, one charge of supplying a Class C drug and one charge of possession with intent to supply a Class C drug.

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Flying instructor David John Lloyd, 63, of Llangristiolus near Llangefni, is charged with conspiracy to import illegal drugs.

Flying instructor David John Lloyd, 63, of Llangristiolus near Llangefni, is charged with conspiracy to import illegal drugs.A passenger aboard a light aircraft which landed at RAF Mona on July 29, Paul Roche, 53, of Prestwich, Manchester, is also charged with conspiracy to import drugs.Their trail should have started at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.But last night a spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs said the matter had been adjourned.“Another man has recently been arrested and charged in connection with this matter and the trial has been adjourned so all matters can be dealt with at the same time,” he said.Lloyd and Roche deny smuggling 14kgs of cocaine worth more than £1m aboard the aircraft.

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Since 2004, more than 1,100 fugitives have been caught, most of them foreigners from Germany, the UK, South America and Eastern Europe

Friday 29 January 2010

Since 2004, more than 1,100 fugitives have been caught, most of them foreigners from Germany, the UK, South America and Eastern Europe, and there are hundreds more cases waiting to be solved. Many of them choose Spain due to the quality of life and the climate. Between 15 and 20 per cent have been solved thanks to the help of the public, leading to the arrests of paedophiles, hired killers, fraudsters, thieves, drugs barons, pimps, Mafiosi, forgers, torturers, war criminals and a long list of others.

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body of a 31-year-old Moroccan man was found in the Straits of Gibraltar

body of a 31-year-old Moroccan man was found in the Straits of Gibraltar, some 8.9 miles southeast of Tarifa, Cadiz. Sea Rescue in the town received a call from a ship heading for the Atlantic which had sighted a body floating in the water, and Algeciras Guardia Civil Sea Rescue team and the Salvamar Alkaid Sea Rescue vessel found and retrieved the body some 30 minutes later. The body, which was decomposing, was taken to Tarifa port where the death was certified by a judge and forensic doctor before it was taken to Los Pinos morgue in Algeciras for an autopsy. The man was carrying a work permit in the name of Nouredin Jounamane.

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Maria Jose Carrascosa, a Valencia lawyer who was sentenced to 14 years in prison in the USA for taking her daughter out of the country

Maria Jose Carrascosa, a Valencia lawyer who was sentenced to 14 years in prison in the USA for taking her daughter out of the country, be set free. Maria Jose married Peter Innes in 1999, and their daughter Victoria was born the following year, however, in 2001, Maria Jose was classed as an abused woman, and in 2004, the couple separated and she returned to Spain with her daughter.

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murderer of Sandra Palo, who was released in 2007,

murderer of Sandra Palo, who was released in 2007, continues his trajectory of crime ON the evening of May 17, 2003, 22-year-old Sandra Palo, who was mentally handicapped, was walking home with a friend, also handicapped, after they had missed the last bus home in Madrid. Fate led them to cross paths with four youths in a stolen car, one of them, Rafael Garcia Fernandez, known as Rafita, was just 14, he was in the back of the car, his cousin ‘Malaguita’ was driving, and two other minors, Ramon and Ramoncin were with them. They were looking for some action.

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PASSENGER tried to force his way into the cockpit on a Thomson Airways flight

PASSENGER tried to force his way into the cockpit on a Thomson Airways flight from Cardiff to the Canary Islands. Staff and other passengers had to restrain the man, who was arrested at Las Palmas airport, Gran Canaria. A spokeswoman for the airport said the man, a Spaniard from the Canary Islands, was "nervous" and "panicked" during the flight. He was later freed by police.

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PAOLO DI MAURO, the 58-year-old head of the Camorra’s Contini clan who was arrested in Casteldelfells (Barcelona)



PAOLO DI MAURO, the 58-year-old head of the Camorra’s Contini clan who was arrested in Casteldelfells (Barcelona) on January 26 after seven years on the run, was the country’s third most wanted man said the Italy’s Interior ministry. Arrested at the same time was 50-year-old Luigi Mocerino, who headed the clan’s international drugs network.

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house market crash has seen the value of homes on the Costa del Sol crash to below 65 per cent their original asking price

one million Britons living in Spain some 74 per cent revealed that repatriation is now a distinct possibility, according to a study undertaken by Moneycorp.Some 37 per cent of those surveyed admitted that they were already looking into returning to the British Isles.The house market crash has seen the value of homes on the Costa del Sol crash to below 65 per cent their original asking price.“Brits living in Spain are particularly affected by the struggling property market with many owning holiday homes and letting out their Spanish properties.”
Add the plummeting pound and limited job opportunities, the survey has fuelled fears that there could be a widespread exodus.“Brits living in Europe are feeling the effects of the weak pound as they are more likely to be reliant on income from their British property, UK pension and other regular sources of funds,” said David Kerns, Head of Private Clients at Moneycorp.“Brits living in Spain are particularly affected by the struggling property market with many owning holiday homes and letting out their Spanish properties.”Meanwhile, the survey also revealed that more than a third of expatriates in Italy, Germany and France are also mulling over moving back to the UK.Kerns added: “Our research shows that British expats have had a tough time and the findings reveal that no country has escaped unharmed from the economic downturn.”The survey interviewed 250 Europe-based UK expatriates and was conducted from October to November 2009.

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Michael Sammon nickname - the Merchant of Death.

Michael Sammon nickname - the Merchant of Death.Sammon was one of Britain's biggest gun crime lords, bringing murder, terror and violence to our streets.On the run for 11 years, he imported blank-firing guns to the UK, converted them into deadly weapons and sold them at a huge profit to killers and gangsters.Now, as Mickey the Fish begins 30 years behind bars,Sammon and his associates legally bought hundreds of flare guns - normally used to fire CS gas cannisters - in Germany for just £43 each.They smuggled the guns into a crumbling warehouse in Manchester, converted them and sold them on to gangs for £750.
Buyers came from Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester, Yorkshire, Scotland, Bristol and Wolverhampton. To the gun gang, this was just a lucrative business. But the human cost has been huge - and is still rising.Police believe weapons from this prolific gun factory are behind more than 4,000 crimes nationwide, including kidnap, armed robbery, torture and extortion. Tragically, one was found by a teenager who accidentally shot dead his little sister.Jailing Sammon, 49, a week ago at Manchester crown court, Judge Martin Steiger called him a "merchant of death".
The judge added: "One hundred of the guns are still in circulation, waiting to do their lethal work to innocent victims."The police have tied 42 guns to Sammon, although around 250 are known to have passed through the gun factory in Ancoats.
The crimes committed with them include the fatal shooting of Kamilah Peniston, 12, at her home in Gorton, Manchester, in April 2007 by her brother.
Kasha, 17, had discovered one of Sammon's converted guns - which had been hidden by their mother for a boyfriend - and was "messing about" with it. A single bullet hit Kamilah in the head and, tragically, she died a day later. Kasha was jailed for two years for manslaughter.A month later, lorry driver Brian Walsh, 47, used one of Sammon's guns to shoot his ex-wife Pauline outside her home in Droylsden, Manchester, then he turned the weapon on himself. She survived, he died.Chillingly, crimelord Dominic Noonan, 43, was found with one of the handguns and five bullets when stopped by police near Darlington, Co Durham, in 2005.
Noonan, whose gang has been linked to more than 25 killings, once boasted: "The police reckon I am behind most of the murders in Manchester." He was jailed for nine and a half years over the gun find.
Sammon's guns were also used in an armed raid on a Rochdale post office on October 25, 2005. Owner Jagdish Patel was pistol-whipped and shot, although luckily the bullet just grazed his head.Robber John Welsby, 27, was later jailed for 13 years for his part in the raid while his accomplice Aiden Martin, 18, got six years and eight months behind bars.
Another pistol smuggled in from Cologne was used by bloodthirsty kidnappers in Wavertree, Liverpool, in May 2005. Their victim was tortured with a hot iron.Police were threatened with another gun in September 2007, after they chased a car in Kirkdale, Liverpool.A man was arrested with a gun hidden in his underwear in Manchester in September 2004. And in October 2005, a youngster pulled a ME 38 Pocket revolver on a pub landlord in Bolton, after being refused entry. Drug arrests also led police to finding part of Sammon's deadly haul in some strange locations - buried in an allotment in Newcastle, hidden in a bag on a golf course in Liverpool.An ME 38 Compact pistol was found in a shallow grave at university grounds in Manchester. Guns were found in woodland in Sheffield and at the Top Nosh cafe in St Helens. Several turned up in Manchester's "Triangle of Death" which has been hit by gun crime.Five accomplices were jailed in 2006 but Sammon, who had been on the run since 1997, remained at large, constantly changing his identity and appearance.
He was eventually traced to a caravan park in Southsea in 2008 and is now serving 30 years for conspiring to possess, import, modify and circulate the firearms.
Sammon worked alongside Robert Tyrer, 51, who was jailed for 19 years in 2006. They masterminded the operation and recruited David McCulloch, 52, to convert the flare guns. He is serving six years after spilling the beans on the crime.
Ds Jim Gray of Greater Manchester Police's Xcalibre Organised Crime Unit said: "Sammon needed stopping as he has caused a lot of misery and suffering."
He added: "It's unusual to come across gun factories and never one so big.
"It's fair to say that the weapons converted in this factory are responsible for a big slice of the gun crime in Britain.
"We're always looking at new shootings to see if it's one of these guns. It's frightening that so many of them are still out there. Sammon would sell to anyone.
"Any crime involving a gun with a .38 calibre could be one of his."
Kamilah Peniston, 12, died after being accidentally shot in the head in April 2007. Brother Kasha, 17, found one of Sammon's guns and was "messing around" with it.
When two gunmen raided his Rochdale post office on October 25, 2005, Jagdish Patel was pistol-whipped and shot. Fortunately, the bullet merely grazed his head.
Notorious crimelord Dominic Noonan, 43 - whose gang has been linked to over 25 murders - was found with one of the handguns when stopped by police in 2005.

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Warlocks motorcycle gang Arrested a Ukrainian national, Serhiy Hudz, on parole violations

Thursday 28 January 2010

Arrested a Ukrainian national, Serhiy Hudz, on parole violations. Hudz, a legal resident, is a member of the Warlocks motorcycle gang whose rap sheet includes murder, aggravated assault, theft, receiving stolen property and driving under the influence, according to ICE.

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convicted Billy Comer Jr., 36, of the sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a church

convicted Billy Comer Jr., 36, of the sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a church.
Comer sold crack cocaine to an informant on July 22, the same day he was placed on three-years probation for possession of cocaine, a few hundred feet from St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Blountstown, according to a news release.At sentencing on Feb. 17, prosecutor Bob Pell will try to show that Comer is a habitual felony offender, which would make him eligible for life in prison.

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Anthony John Mulraney was jailed for 18 months.

Anthony John Mulraney sealed his own fate after he couldn't be bothered to speak to a probation officer before he was sentenced.The 32-year-old refused to co-operate with any order which could have kept him out of prison - even after a judge urged his advocate to "talk some sense into him".With no previous convictions for drug dealing and only one for possession, jail was "not a forgone conclusion", said Judge Les Spittle.But Mulraney would not contribute to a pre-sentence report and insisted from the dock: "I don't want a report."
Judge Spittle was left with no option but to lock him up at Teesside Crown Court.
Mulraney was caught with drugs at the home he shared with his partner and their young son, Prosecutor Ian Mullarkey told how police raided Mulraney's home on Greencroft Walk, Park End, Middlesbrough on April 24 last year. A total of 447 diazepam tablets were found stashed in various parts of the house. They included 375 pills in make-up boxes, 45 on a glass cabinet in the living room, 15 in a biscuit tin in the kitchen and one bag in Mulraney's trouser pocket. A small quantity of cannabis was also discovered.On arrest Mulraney told police, referring to his partner: "It's all mine. She had nothing to do with it." His text messages pointed to dealing.Mulraney initially told officers in interview the tablets were for his own use, using 200 tablets a week, then said he was minding 200 pills for a friend, his supplier.He later said he bought 1,000 tablets for £150 and sold them for 50p each, spending profits on clothes and to fund his own addiction.Mulraney, now of Melsonby Avenue, Park End, admitted possessing diazepam with intent to supply and possession of cannabis. He had a long criminal record with offences of dishonesty. Brian Russell, defending, pointed towards Mulraney's lack of previous similar offending and his guilty plea.Judge Les Spittle said he did not know whether Mulraney had problems which might merit an approach other than imprisonment.
He told the defendant: "It's by your own request that you don't seek this court to have a pre-sentence report prepared upon you to give this court further information."Even if you did have a particular problem using drugs yourself, your principal motivation was gain, financial gain."Mulraney was jailed for 18 months.

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Gregory Lora, 18, and Priscilla Jeffrey, 21, were charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance

Gregory Lora, 18, and Priscilla Jeffrey, 21, were charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony. Jeffrey was also charged with marijuana possession, a violation.They were booked at county police headquarters in Hawthorne on Tuesday night. Jeffrey was released on bail, while Lora was arraigned today in Buchanan Village Court and sent without bail to the Westchester County jail.

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Shoukat Yaqoob - locked up for 11 years for conspiracy to supply heroin

Shoukat Yaqoob - locked up for 11 years for conspiracy to supply heroin - worked at an insurance company call centre in Sheffield and used the company's phoneline to mastermind the multi-million pound enterprise.His calls were examined and it emerged he had been working on the orders of 28-year-old Sadakat Ali Malook, of Osgathorpe Road, Fir Vale.Malook, serving a 21-year jail term, was ordered to pay back £196,069 in six months or face a further three years in prison. Naveed Yaqoob, 23, of Barnsley Road, Fir Vale, must pay back £1,516 within a week or have 40 days added to his jail term. His brother Jamil Yaqoob, 25, of Sturton Road, Fir Vale, must pay back £220.29 or face an extra 14 days in jail.The Yaqoob brothers were arrested after police searched a house in Pitsmoor where they were storing their drugs. Bags of heroin with a street value of £100,000, along with equipment used in the mixing, packing and distribution of drugs, were discovered.Naveed was jailed for 13 years for conspiracy to supply heroin and Jamil received five years for the same offence. Two other members of the gang were jailed when the case was first at court in 2007.
Jangheer Yaqoob - another of the brothers - received seven years for supplying heroin and crack cocaine, and Christopher Dewey from Doncaster received five years for conspiracy to supply heroin.Last July a court found Shoukat Yaqoob, 27, of Earl Marshal Road, Fir Vale, had profited from the scheme to the tune of a massive £3,115,096 and he was ordered to pay back more than £97,000 or face an extra two years in jail.

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Cameron Douglas, 31, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ronald Ellis in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy to distribute crystal meth and co


Cameron Douglas, 31, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ronald Ellis in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy to distribute crystal meth and cocaine and to heroin possession.son of Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas admitted in a New York court on Wednesday to possessing heroin and dealing large amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine out of his hotel room.Douglas was arrested on July 28 at the trendy Gansevoort Hotel in Manhattan and faces at least 11 years and up to life in prison. After his arrest and while on pretrial release, Douglas possessed heroin, the charges said.Douglas sent large quantities of methamphetamine, known by the street names of "crystal meth" and "ice," to New York via FedEx between 2006 and 2009, according to the complaint.He worked with accomplices who are cooperating with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the complaint said.In several different recorded phone calls Douglas referred to the drugs as "pastry" and "salts," the complaint said.Douglas was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine in 2007 in Santa Barbara, California.His two-time Oscar-winner father, Michael Douglas, in an interview in the March/April issue of AARP The Magazine said his son, his only child with his first wife Diandra Luker, is a "tough kid" but that he was still worried about his welfare.In the 2000 movie Traffic, Michael Douglas played a high-powered judge in charge of fighting a war on drugs, only to find out his teenage daughter was a cocaine addict."Cameron has a lot of life ahead. He now recognizes his own demons and struggles," Douglas told the magazine.

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Ernest Lee Porter, 34, was arrested Friday, two days after deputies raided his Rio del Mar home

Ernest Lee Porter, 34, was arrested Friday, two days after deputies raided his Rio del Mar home, according to Sgt. Mark Yanez.Deputies confiscated about 450 plants from gardens set up in several rooms of the Loma Prieta Drive house and a couple of outbuildings, the Sheriff's Office reported.
"He had grows everywhere," Yanez said.Porter allegedly had about 10 pounds of marijuana either drying or packaged to sell and approximately $18,500 cash at his house, according to the Sheriff's Office.
During the search for pot, deputies also found almost a pound and a half of cocaine and two shotguns, Yanez said.Detectives believe that Porter, who lived in the house, was selling cocaine and marijuana. He told deputies he was a medicinal user, Yanez said."He's selling it, so he's outside of state guidelines," Yanez said. "We don't bust people for being out of the county guidelines. ... Generally cases we do that result in arrests are the people who are selling it."
Porter was arrested on suspicion of possessing for sale and transporting cocaine, possessing for sale and transporting of marijuana and enhancements for large quantity of cocaine and possessing firearms while possessing a controlled substance for sale, according to Yanez.Yanez said the marijuana grow tip came in Wednesday. Detectives did some follow-up investigation before going to a judge for a search warrant, which was served the same day. Porter was there when the raid started, but left.County Jail records showed Porter was taken into custody Friday afternoon at a home on the Eastside of Santa Cruz, booked into jail and later released on $100,000 bail.

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David R. Colbath and Owens face preliminary charges of dealing in cocaine, possession of cocaine and public intoxication.

David R. Colbath, 30, of Jeffersonville, and April Owens, 29, of Clarksville, also were in the vehicle and were arrested, according to Clarksville Police Department Maj. Dale Abell.Colbath and Owens face preliminary charges of dealing in cocaine, possession of cocaine and public intoxication.Clarksville Police Department Maj. Dale Abell said the arrests were made after a traffic stop at the ramp of Veterans Parkway onto East U.S. 31. The arrests were made at 7:16 a.m.Maj. Chuck Adams, of the Clark County Sheriff’s Department, said Terry was booked into jail early Wednesday morning and is being held without bond out of Clark County Superior Court No. 2.“The police reported indicated [Terry] was observed driving erratically,” Clark County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeremy Mull saidMull said, according to the police report, a small amount of cocaine was found in a cupholder next to Terry. He also had a handgun directly under his seat that had six rounds in a magazine. He had no gun permit.Mull said police officers alleged Terry refused to obey verbal commands and “stiffened up” when officer attempted to handcuff him.
A larger amount of cocaine was found on the ground next to Colbath. Mull said Colbath had more than $1,200 in his possession, while Terry and Owens had a little more than $100.Mull said it is possible that not all of the occupants in the vehicle will be officially charged with dealing in cocaine.Terry, a 6-foot, 5-inch, 295-pound offensive tackle, last played for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007.According to his www.nfl.com profile, Terry was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played four seasons for the Panthers, three seasons for the Seattle Seahawks and two seasons for the Chiefs after attending University of Georgia.According to media reports, Terry was cut by the Chiefs in December 2007 for not attending team meetings. He was then suspended by the NFL for the entire 2008 season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He had previously been suspended in 2003 for violating the substance abuse policy and for a domestic dispute with his wife.Terry played in 100 career games, 88 as a starter.

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Chris Terry, 34, of Jacksonville, Fla., was booked into jail on charges of class A felony dealing cocaine

Former NFL offensive tackle Chris Terry is under arrest in Clarksville, Indiana for a number of charges, including possessing and dealing cocaine, resisting law enforcement, and possession of a handgun without a permit, Matt Thacker of the News and Tribune reports.Terry, 34, is being held without bond by the Clark County Sheriff’s Department.
A second-round pick (34th overall) out of Georgia in 1999 by the Carolina Panthers, Terry spent the first 3+ seasons of his NFL career with the Panthers before being released after missing a court date related to a domestic assault charge.
Chris Terry, 34, of Jacksonville, Fla., was booked into jail on charges of class A felony dealing cocaine and class C felony possession of cocaine along with charges of operating while intoxicated by refusal, resisting law enforcement, possession of a handgun without a permit and driving with a suspended license.

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Pete Doherty On Tuesday, the Babyshambles frontman was slapped on the wrist for his latest offense

Troubled rocker Pete Doherty has been ordered to pay a fine after he was caught carrying heroin into a U.K. court in December. The Babyshambles frontman landed himself in trouble after he was frisked by guards on his way into Gloucester Crown Court for sentencing over a series of driving offenses. Security staff saw a small packet fall out of his coat and the star was arrested in the corridor on his way out. His lawyer argued at Gloucester Magistrates' Court on Wednesday that Doherty had forgotten the 13 wraps of heroin were in the jacket - but the judge branded it a "stupid" move. District Judge Joti Boparai told the star, "Either this was sheer stupidity or a ploy to get more publicity." He was ordered to pay $1,200 but escaped a rehabilitation order as the judge ruled public funds shouldn't be spent on him as Doherty is already paying for private drug treatment.
Doherty would be questioned after new evidence emerged in an unsolved 2006 party death. The evidence corroborates the allegation that the rocker was involved in a fight with the victim prior to his death from a multi-story fall.In unrelated troubles to come, friend and filmmaker Robin Whitehead, a member of the wealthy British Goldsmith family, was found dead of a drug overdose on Sunday. According to the Daily Mail, Whitehead, 27, was ten days into filming a documentary about Doherty, and had been with him at the place of her death just a day before she was found.When confronted with the news of Whitehead's death while leaving the courthouse on Wednesday, Doherty told a reporter, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Pete Doherty On Tuesday, the Babyshambles frontman was slapped on the wrist for his latest offense – bringing 13 doses of heroin into a drunk-driving hearing. An England court handed him only a $1,400 fine. But it's about to get worse for the embattled tabloid prince. Maybe a whole lot worse after friend Robin Whitehead was found dead of an overdose just a day after visiting the rocker.Doherty was in court for sentencing on Dec. 21 for June charges of driving carelessly, while drunk and in possession of drugs when "13 wraps of heroin" fell from his pocket. "He was in a rush to get to court. He was handed a coat and he didn't check the pockets," his lawyer explained to the judge on Tuesday.The popular musician plead guilty to the December charges. He was ordered to pay $3,300 in fines and banned from driving for 18 months. The drugs fell out of his pockets upon his exiting the courthouse.
"Either this was sheer stupidity or a ploy to get more publicity," Judge Joti Boparai told Reuters on Wednesday.His lawyer explained to the court that Doherty "is a recovering heroin addict and has received some very sophisticated medical treatment."Because he is currently in treatment, and reportedly using medical implants that cancel the effects of heroin, Judge Boparai decided against using the "public purse" to rehabilitate the singer.

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Ryan Freeman has been placed on administrative leave from both his law enforcement posts after police said he illegally searched for information


Ryan Freeman has been placed on administrative leave from both his law enforcement posts after police said he illegally searched for information on two drug trafficking suspects.He is both a corrections officer with the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office and a Braceville Police Department officer.
Freeman was arrested last week on charges of unauthorized use of the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway and obstruction of justice after officials with Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force executed a search warrant at his home.
Police said he'd illegally used the OLEG information system to search the backgrounds of acquaintances Frederick Johnson and Brandy Purbaugh. During the search in late December, he learned they were suspects in a heroin ring investigation in Trumbull County.
Johnson and Purbaugh were arrested after raids in Warren earlier this month.
Freeman also searched information on two officers, said police.
Braceville Police Chief Bill Garro said Freeman's has worked at the department as an unpaid reserve officer for just a little over one month and has been placed on unpaid administrative leave.
"I was flabbergasted when I heard the news," Garro said.
Tarro said any further action regarding Freeman's status or employment will be up to township trustees.Meanwhile, Freeman has also been placed on paid administrative leave by the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office, where he's worked for about three years.
Freeman pleaded not guilty to his charges in Warren Municipal Court earlier this week and posted $5,000 bond.

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Michael Hawcroft was charged with four counts of supplying commercial quantities of ecstasy and one count of supplying cocaine

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Michael Hawcroft, 23, of Charles Street, Warners Bay, did not enter pleas and did not apply for bail in Newcastle Local Court.He was charged with four counts of supplying commercial quantities of ecstasy and one count of supplying cocaine.His case was adjourned to May.Police intercepted 60,000 thousand telephone calls and text messages, the court heard.A woman, 20, believed to be one of the charged men's partner, was arrested when she attended Newcastle police station and was expected to be charged last night.
EIGHT young men remained behind bars last night, accused of being involved in a major drug distribution ring that had supplied more than 27,000 ecstasy pills to Newcastle's party scene in just three months.Specialist police raided six properties in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Sydney following an intense investigation, which will allege the supply of drugs with a potential street value of more than $750,000.Six of the eight men face at least one count of supplying a large commercial quantity of ecstasy, which carries a maximum jail term of 15 years.
Police also seized two cars, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, televisions, stereos and hundreds of ecstasy tablets, cocaine and steroids.The National Parks and Wildlife Service was called in to seize a snake from a New Lambton address while a search warrant on a Kemps Creek house was suspended while specialist police from the force's chemical operations unit were called in after glassware and other items were discovered.Newcastle City local area commander Superintendent Max Mitchell said Strike Force Sloman had put a major dint in the supply of the so-called party drug in Newcastle."The bottom line is that it is an unfortunate state of play that we have young men ranging in age from 19 to 26 who have been involved in this type of crime and supplying, in general, these drugs to young members of our community," Superintendent Mitchell said.". . .what it shows the general community is that we do have a problem with the supply of ecstasy within our community and that is very unfortunate."
Police allege that at least one of the men had supplied cocaine and LSD.
Officers raided two units in Newcastle and residences in Warners Bay, Cooks Hill, New Lambton and Kemps Creek in Sydney.The 26-year-old arrested at Kemps Creek is a member of the Hells Angels bikie gang and a Newcastle man, 20, has links with the Gladiators.
A Cooks Hill man, 19, was charged with one count of using a phone service to procure a person under 16 years for a sexual act.Two men were arrested in a gym car park in Warners Bay, another was arrested at Honeysuckle and a fourth was taken into custody at Kooragang Island.
Superintendent Mitchell said using drugs had become a widespread problem within the Newcastle party precinct and he would be seeking meetings with publicans and stakeholders in a bid to find solutions."I think the majority of ecstasy is supplied for the purpose of individuals who can go out to our entertainment areas, dance parties, etcetera," he said.
"That is the purpose of the drug, it gives the individual the high they are looking for.
"We know that it is a cheap form where they buy a tablet for a night out for $25 on average. Of course, $25 is a lot cheaper than going into some of our licensed premises and spending in the vicinity of $100 or more on the purchase of alcohol.
"That is the simple and sad fact of what we are putting up with today."Only one of the eight men faced court yesterday with the others due to appear in Newcastle Local Court today.

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John Andrew Blenkinsop, 25, of Huntley Close, and Lee Alan Cunningham, 23, of Grendon Walk, pleaded guilty to taking part in the drugs plot

John Andrew Blenkinsop, 25, of Huntley Close, and Lee Alan Cunningham, 23, of Grendon Walk, pleaded guilty to taking part in the drugs plot.They conspired to supply heroin and cocaine between August 12 and September 26, Teesside Crown Court was told yesterday. Cunningham also admitted possessing heroin with intent to supply on September 25.Prosecutor Jolyon Perks said Cunningham's address was raided by police. He said: "The quantity of diamorphine that was recovered from that address was part and parcel of a stash that he and his co-conspirators were distributing." Judge George Moorhouse adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports. He remanded Cunningham in custody and allowed Blenkinsop conditional bail saying: "The mere fact that I'm asking for a report mustn't give you false hopes."

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Stephen Jamieson, Brian McCulloch and Steven Caddis, all from Paisley, and Caddis’s brother Gary, from Glasgow.

Friday 22 January 2010


huge image, launched today at Pollok Community Centre by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, will be driven around west Scotland in an advertising trailer as part of a new crime strategy .
The controversial step follows the gangland shooting of Kevin “Gerbil” Carroll last Wednesday in daylight in a car park in Robroyston.
It also follows a similar scheme with gun crime in Manchester.
The first gangsters to be featured are Stephen Jamieson, Brian McCulloch and Steven Caddis, all from Paisley, and Caddis’s brother Gary, from Glasgow.
The four men ran a cocaine empire worth millions of pounds and were jailed last October for a total of 29 years.
Different convicted gangsters could be featured in future campaigns.
Mr MacAskill called for a co-ordinated approach to stop “evil” from prevailing in certain communities.
He said: “In tackling organised crime we need to change a culture that describes some as colourful businessmen. They are not. They are gangsters and criminals who prey on our communities.
“That is why all decent people must support the police as they pursue serious organised criminals until justice is done and until they are stripped of their ill-gotten gains.”
Detective Inspector Graham Mayo said: “We want to make clear to everyone, particularly young people, that serious organised crime does not pay.
“One of the issues about this particular case was that a lot of previously innocent people got caught up in the work of this crime group. These individuals thought they were untouchable, but ultimately they were sentenced to a total of
29 years.
“Young people might see those driving about in flash cars and wearing Rolex watches as something
to look up to, but they need to
realise it will end in trouble and jail.”
The four men featured on the poster were caught after a 15-month police surveillance operation involving up to 100 officers a day.
Almost £9million of drugs, a cache of machine guns and other weapons, seven luxury cars and almost £500,000 in cash were seized.

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Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has seized more than €200,000 in cash and a property portfolio from gangland boss Martin 'Marlo' Hyland.

Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has seized more than €200,000 in cash and a property portfolio from gangland boss Martin 'Marlo' Hyland.After pursuing Hyland's profits from drug trafficking and armed robberies over the past two-and-a-half years, CAB yesterday won High Court approval for the seizures.Hyland was shot dead by some of his associates in a house in Finglas, west Dublin, in December 2006 -- after a series of successes against his crime gang by the garda's organised crime and national drugs units.He was the prime target of Operation Oak, which was set up in September 2005 to focus on Hyland and his associates.It resulted in the seizure of 30kgs of heroin, with a street value of €8m; 35kgs of cocaine, worth €2.5m; 1.4 tonnes of cannabis, worth €10m; as well as four stolen vehicles, firearms, ammunition and cash.It also led to 41 arrests and 26 of the suspects are currently before the courts on charges ranging from possession of drugs with intent to sell or supply, robbery and possession of firearms.Hyland was described in court as the leader of an organised crime gang. Some of his assets were lodged in other people's names but Cab proved to the High Court that he was linked to them.In court yesterday, Mr Justice Kevin Feeney ordered the disposal by the State of a house owned by Hyland in Dublin. This followed previous court judgments on another house in Dublin and a property in Co Meath.CAB was also given the go-ahead yesterday to seize €19,150 in cash and a sports utility vehicle (SUV).Earlier, the High Court had ordered the forfeiture of two other cash sums, €161,000 and €37,000, making an overall total of almost €220,000.Some of the money had been put down as a deposit for the purchase of a luxury apartment in Bulgaria.Judge Feeney also appointed CAB's legal officer, Frank Cassidy, as a receiver and he was instructed to sell the property and hand the proceeds into the Exchequer.Since Hyland's murder and the conviction of some of his associates, the remnants of his gang have banded together with other criminals.
They are now under the control of another Finglas-based thug, who is a prime target for gardai and CAB.Two of Hyland's former associates were recently jailed for a combined 26 years for their part in a major drug trafficking operation.

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family of gangster Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll may have to wait months before they can hold his funeral.

The Daniel crime clan lieutenant was shot in the head five times in broad daylight as he sat in a car outside ASDA in Robroyston, Glasgow, last Wednesday.But as police continued the hunt for the assassins, Carroll's body remained in a city mortuary and can't be handed over to undertakers without the go-ahead of the procurator fiscal.
A source said: "The release of the body is way down the line and is not imminent."
When drug dea ler Jim McDonald was shot dead in Cardonald, Glasgow, in May 2007, his family had to wait three months before they could bury him.The hitman, Stuart Robertson, was later jailed for 20 years.And when gangster George Redmond was assassinated outside the Waldorf bar in Glasgow city centre, his funeral didn't take place for five months.That hit, in October 2008, remains unsolved.A week on from the Carroll killing, police were keeping an open mind as to who sanctioned the shooting and why it was ordered.Both the Lyons and the Daniel crime clans have been blamed for the assassination.

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Clay Roueche may be the top-ranking UN gangster to go down on drug charges

Clay Roueche may have been arrested just last year, but the cracks in his United Nations gang started surfacing in early 2005.That's when UN helicopters flying clandestinely across the border hit the radar of police in both Washington state and British Columbia.According to U.S. court documents filed for Roueche's sentencing hearing Wednesday, Chilliwack RCMP were already following around some of Roueche's UN associates by the third week of 2005.They tracked a Robinson R22 helicopter to a hangar at the Chilliwack Airport on Jan. 24, 2005 that was rented by Joe Curry, who had used his credit card to purchase chopper fuel. Like Roueche, Curry was later charged with conspiracy to traffic in the U.S., but he remains in Canada.
A day later, RCMP surveillance followed a car to the same hangar and later to a meeting with someone driving a vehicle registered to UN gang member Daryl Johnson. Johnson's car then was driven to UN Gang member Douglas Vanalstine's business in Abbotsford, B.C., where Vanalstine's car also was parked.Late last month, both Vanalstine and Johnson were charged in B.C. with conspiracy to traffic cocaine after an undercover operation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement. Vanalstine is charged on the same indictment in Washington state to which Roueche has pleaded guilty.The U.S. Attorney is asking for a 30-year-sentence for Roueche, but his lawyer Todd Maybrown says that is unfair and disproportionate to others already convicted in the same international drug conspiracy.And there are many.Roueche may be the top-ranking UN gangster to go down on drug charges, but a whole string of his mules and smugglers also was arrested, charged, convicted and jailed in the U.S., according to courts.B.C. resident Alexander Swanson was arrested on Aug. 12, 2005 — off-loading UN pot in Washington state. Calgary brothers Zachary and Braydon Miraback were arrested in Puyallup on Sept. 21, 2005, with 453 kilograms of B.C. bud that had been flown across by helicopter earlier that day.U.S. warrants were issued for the arrests of two Fraser Valley men — Trevor Schoutens and Brian Fews — who had been followed across the border by U.S. agents several times as they facilitated the movement of marijuana.On Dec. 1, 2005, B.C. resident Greg Fielding got nabbed with 148 kilograms of pot stuffed into hockey bags that had been dropped off by a white float plane on Soap Lake, near Spokane.Three months later, on March 14, 2006, B.C. pilot Kevin Haughton was arrested by the Colville Tribal police after he abandoned a float plane with 142 kilograms of marijuana and 24,000 ecstasy pills.Haughton told police that he worked for Duane Meyer, a UN gangster based in Abbotsford who was gunned down last year in a targeted hit.Nine days later, two Vancouver women — Sharmila Kumar and Shailen Varma — were picked up at Soap Lake where they had also picked up marijuana that had been flown in to the remote spot.On Sept. 25, 2006, Joshua Hildebrandt and Nicholas Kocoski were busted near Rimrock, Wash., after flying undetermined contraband in a rented Piper Cherokee from Chilliwack, B.C.Two days later, B.C. man Daniel LeClerc was arrested near Yreka, Calif., with 144 kilos of cocaine in his aircraft. He was en route to Chilliwack.On Oct. 3, 2006, Chilliwack realtor and close Roueche associate Michael Gordon as well as Alexander Kocoski crossed into Washington state to bail the Kocoski's brother and Hildrebrandt out of jail. Gordon was later shot to death in Chilliwack on Aug. 20, 2008.Many of the Canadians arrested in the U.S. co-operated and pleaded guilty, providing information about their links in Canada. Others claimed not to know those behind the shipments they were ferrying or hauling across the border.But police in both Canada and the U.S. knew the common denominator was Clay Roueche and the UN gang. And they set their sights on bigger fish.The Americans recruited an informant named Ken Davis who had agreed to be one of Roueche's men in the U.S., according to public documents filed in a Seattle court.
Davis gathered incriminating evidence linking the UN leader to marijuana and cocaine smuggling and money laundering in the millions of dollars.Davis visited Roueche in Abbotsford and was given Roueche's contacts in California to which he was asked to deliver about $500,000 a week in drug profits and return to Seattle with 25 kilos of cocaine per trip.When Roueche was away in Mexico or in Asia, he got Davis to call Dan Russell for orders, the court documents say. Russell is now charged in B.C. with conspiring to kill the Bacon brothers and their Red Scorpion associates.Roueche was indicted in Washington by a grand jury in October 2007. But the U.S. file remained sealed until Roueche was nabbed after being turned away from Mexico on May 17, 2008, and forced to land in Texas where the warrant was waiting.
The breadth of his operation and the violence both threatened and inflicted are the reasons why the U.S. attorney wants Roueche locked away for 30 years."The affidavits of the various co-operators paint the picture of a controlled, powerful man who appeared willing to take whatever necessary steps in order to continue his lucrative drug-trafficking business," the U.S. attorney's office says in its sentencing memo."The UN Gang is the type of organized, sophisticated drug trading group that presents a significant danger to the safety, peace and security of the United States."But Maybrown is arguing that the myth of Clay Roueche is bigger than the man himself.
He said that while the U.S. attorney claims in its sentencing documents that UN gang members "have become known for their reputation of extreme violence," no evidence of Roueche using violence has been entered.Two of Roueche's young daughters wrote letters to the judge, pleading to let "Daddy come out because we had lots of fun together."Maybrown pointed Roueche's own words as indication the gang leader has changed.
"Until recently, I did not even think about, let alone understand, the consequences of my actions," Roueche said in a letter to the court."I now understand that I have hurt myself, my family members and others because of my foolish actions. For all of this, I am truly sorry."

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Monro attempted to kill this victim by slitting his throat with a knife while positioning him head down to bleed him out.

•Two counts of Attempted Aggravated Murder
•One County of Assault in the First Degree
•Three counts of Robbery in the First Degree
•Five counts of Robbery in the Second Degree
•Felon in Possession of a Firearm
•Burglary in the First Degree and Theft in the First Degreejury convicted a gang member of holding the victim of a robbery upside and slitting his throat during a home invasion robbery.The victim survived to testify against Shawn Richard Monro, who turns 28 Friday. He will be sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 9 a.m.The trial took more than two weeks. The jury convicted the defendant of 18 felony counts including:
The charges stem from a series of robberies and the attempted aggravated murder of a Eugene man during a home-invasion robbery near Cal Young Middle School.
Monro attempted to kill this victim by slitting his throat with a knife while positioning him head down to bleed him out.
The trial included testimony witnesses who were Westside Gangsters and Gangster Disciple members at the time of the offenses, most of whom are currently serving prison sentences for their roles in these crimes and others. The crimes were investigated by a team led by Eugene Police Department detectives in the course of a multi-year investigation into related gang activities in October of 2006. Other participants in the Eugene home invasion robbery included Paul McCloskey, Robert Jablonski and Michael Vaughan. They are all serving Measure 11 prison sentences. This crime spree culminated in the gang related murder of Noah Thacker by Michael Anthony Vaughan. The day following the Eugene home invasion, Vaughan executed Thacker and then lit his body and apartment on fire. In 2008 Michael Vaughan pled guilty to aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

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Gurneerkamal Gill was picked up during a raid

Gurneerkamal Gill was picked up during a raid on his family’s Abbotsford home late Wednesday afternoon.While he has some links to the United Nations gang, he was an independent businessman allegedly running a four-phone drug line to the tune of about $1,000 a day profit, Const. Ian MacDonald said.The arrest is just the latest by the Abbotsford police, who have been targeting front-line drug crews in an effort to disrupt the profits of Fraser Valley gangsters.Members of the Red Scorpions and the UN have been busted in recent months, along with freelancers like Gill, who appeared in court Thursday.“This guy is definitely associated with card-carrying gang members — predominantly on the UN side — but he is what I would characterize as close a freelancer as I have seen,” MacDonald said. MacDonald said Gill was not on police radar until very recently, even though investigators believe he has been running a lucrative dial-a-dope operation for up to two years.During the raid on the home at 2167 Martens St., police seized a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, a bolt-action rifle, ammunition, heroin, cocaine, cash and four cellphones, MacDonald said.

Gill is now facing two trafficking charges and three weapons charges.

MacDonald said Gill was living at home, driving two German-made automobiles worth $100,000 and telling people the money came from his business.
His family did not know about his alleged drug trafficking, MacDonald said.
“He was doing limited distribution through his residence, but the bulk of it he was doing by driving to people’s houses,” MacDonald said.
“In the current climate where you have got gangs at war and where you have got police trying to arrest people and we are looking for information on people, he had isolated himself pretty well by being an independent business guy.”
Gill has no criminal record and is listed in federal documents as the owner of a business called Seven Star Import & Export, operated from the Martens Street house.
“He was the prototypical gangster, not by association to a criminal organization, but by lifestyle. He fits that middle-class gangster mould where you still have a close association to your middle-class or upper middle-class roots, but now you can adorn yourself with all the accoutrements of engaging in illegitimate business.”
With high-profile Abbotsford leaders of both the UN and Red Scorpions in jail, police are now targeting other levels of the drug trade, including independents like Gill.Since November, Abbotsford police have arrested people at drug houses linked to both gangs. One of those charged, Red Scorpion Jason William Brown, appeared in Surrey Provincial Court on Thursday.
“Part of the directive that we have received from the chief and the deputy is that we are going to put gangsters and drug dealers in jail wherever we come upon them, regardless of where they are in the food chain, we are going to make arrests,” MacDonald said. “2010 is going to be a record year for arresting gangsters and drug dealers. Our mandate is to make it as ugly as possible to be a gangster in Abbotsford.”

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Gotti's last three trials for racketeering have ended in mis-trial

Gotti's last three trials for racketeering have ended in mis-trial because of jury tampering or deadlocked juries. The alleged Mob boss is accused of taking over New York's biggest crime family from his infamous father, John "The Dapper Don" Gotti, who died in jail. The latest trial, in its sixth week, heard testimony about how the Mob sought to intimidate jurors. A Mafia turncoat testifying for the prosecution claimed that Mr Gotti mouthed the words "I'll kill you" to him in the courtroom.
Before the trial started, seven jurors asked unsuccessfully to be removed from the case, saying that they were scared of retribution. Judge Kevin Castel dismissed one juror who said that she was brushed by a car while crossing a Manhattan street in an incident that she took as a warning from the Mob. A second juror was dismissed because his hedge fund was losing too much money without him, leaving only four alternative jurors left to step in. Judge Castel questioned the remaining jurors individually on Tuesday about the latest row.

Gotti, 45, voiced concern over an allegation in the letter than Juror No 7 considered his defence lawyer "very handsome". The letter writer mistakenly called the defence lawyer Charles Carneglia, instead of Charles Carnesi - mixing up his surname for that of a Mafia hitman who dissolved his victims in acid.
"A juror thinks the guy representing me is a five-time murderer. What shot do I have?" said Mr Gotti.

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Lea Sheppe, 58, was scheduled to be tried in B.C. Supreme court

Thursday 21 January 2010

Lea Sheppe, 58, was scheduled to be tried in B.C. Supreme court this week, but instead entered a guilty plea to a single count of forcible confinement.On Wednesday, Dean Curtis Madill, 53, entered a guilty plea related to the same events. The incident arose early in 2008 when Sheppe learned that his son's motorcycle was missing. Sheppe and Madill later found the man they thought was responsible.While Sheppe and Madill initially forced the man into a vehicle and took him to a home where he was assaulted in March 2008, Sheppe was not present in May when Madill again confronted the man. At that time, Madill hit the man and caused a serious head injury. Madill was given a conditional sentence of two years less a day on a charge aggravated assault.

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Walter Stadnick, 51, of Hamilton, and Donald Stockford, 42, of Ancaster, were convicted

Walter Stadnick, 51, of Hamilton, and Donald Stockford, 42, of Ancaster, were convicted in June 2004 on five charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, drug trafficking and gangsterism. Stadnick was earlier acquitted of 13 first-degree murder charges and three counts of attempted murder. The pair launched a request to appeal questioning language used in Crown disclosure and the consistency of statements provided by some witnesses at their trial.On Monday, the Court of Appeal of Quebec dismissed their request.In September 2004, the pair sat motionless as Quebec Superior Court Justice Jerry Zigman read his sentence for nearly 30 minutesHe called them "hardened criminals who show little or no hope of being able to straighten out their lives and cease participating in criminal activities. "They are violent people who are a danger to society. They have expressed no remorse for their acts."Stadnick and Stockford, who were tried in English, were among the last to face trial of those arrested during a massive Quebec police sweep in 2001.The men were founding members of the Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels in Montreal, which controlled the drug trade and led an eight-year bloody turf war with the rival Rock Machine.Stadnick and Stockford were heavily involved in biker activities in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario. Stadnick served as national president of the Hells Angels for six years.

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Terrence Tongolini to serve a minimum eight years jail.

A sex predator former Hells Angel who set fire to businesses as part of an extortion racket that left his victims fearing for their lives, has been jailed.Terrence Tognolini used his bikie status to threaten, bully and blackmail businesses who failed to meet his demands, the County Court in Melbourne heard today.
But Tognolini, already behind bars for eight years for offences including drug dealing and a sex attack on a young girl, will serve a concurrent sentence that adds only 18 months' jail time for his campaign of fear and violence.Tognolini ran a hydroponics business and, during his eight-year reign of terror, targeted five hydroponic businesses around Melbourne that were competitors.He threatened violence and arson if they did not stock his items or hand over thousands of dollars in cash.Some properties were set alight in arson attacks and Tognolini told one victim he would "cut his eyes out" and threatened to kill him and his family if he did not meet his demands for money.Many of his victims lived in fear, too scared to go to police for fear of retribution.In October 2009, a County Court jury found Tognolini guilty of nine counts of blackmail, three of arson, one of threatening to damage property and one of indecent assault over the racket.Tognolini - who has 19 prior convictions including for drugs, armed robbery, and carrying a loaded firearm - is already serving a minimum six-and-a-half year jail term for sex offences against teenage girls.The court heard the Hells Angels inked over Tognolini's club tattoos and expelled him when the child sex offences came to lightToday, Judge Lance Pilgrim jailed Tognolini for 12 years, which is to be served concurrently with his existing jail term.The judge set a minimum term of eight years before Tognolini is eligible to apply for parole.
A former member of the Hells Angels, who is also a person of interest in the murder investigation of a Bendigo woman, has been sentenced to 12 years jail for an extortion racket he ran in the mid 1990s.
A Victorian County Court judge ordered Terrence Tongolini to serve a minimum eight years jail.
Police believe the 45-year-old may be linked to the murder of single mother Vicki Jacobs.She was shot dead while sleeping beside her six-year-old son in their Long Gully home in 1999.

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John Virgil Punko, a member of the East End chapter of the notorious motorcycle gang,


Full-patch member of the Hells Angels who pleaded guilty to trafficking in large quantities of drugs should walk free, his lawyer argued Wednesday.In December, John Virgil Punko, a member of the East End chapter of the notorious motorcycle gang, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic in 50 kilograms of methamphetamines and five kilograms of cocaine.Prosecutors argued that Punko should be jailed for 16 years, reduced to 13 years, five months after calculating so-called dead time, or pre-sentencing custody.
But on Wednesday, Punko's lawyer told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask that a significant mitigating factor was that Punko was enticed into his drug dealing by the RCMP and their police agent Michael Plante.
Richard Cairns told the judge that even before Plante became a police agent who was offered up to $1 million to infiltrate the club, as a police informant Plante had been providing Punko with the narcotic painkiller Percocet, fuelling his drug addiction and making him delusional and paranoid.Cairns admitted that Punko was a willing participant and an equal partner to Plante."He took to it like a duck to water. He succumbed to his greed."Cairns said without the behaviour of Plante and the police, Punko should be sentenced to four and a half years in jail, leaving him with two years in prison after dead time.But he said considering the actions of Plante and the police,a lesser sentence is called for."What you're saying is that I should start with the four and a half years and subtract a number that reflects the court's weighing of the behaviour of Plante?" asked Leask."That's exactly right," said Cairns. "In our submission, that could amount to a significant reduction, such that Mr. Punko would walk out of the door."Prosecutor Martha Devlin disputed Cairns' characterization of the accused's state of mind and argued that the court should call Punko to testify.
Cairns said he was opposed to such a move and the judge adjourned the sentencing hearing until Monday to hear more arguments on the issue.John Virgil Punko, 43, pleaded guilty last month to conspiring to produce and traffic methamphetamine, trafficking five kilograms of cocaine in 2004 and possessing $387,140 cash that was the proceeds of crime, including $142,500 from the sale of cocaine.Prosecutor Martha Devlin told the court that Punko should be given 30 months of credit for 15 months served in pre-trial custody, which would reduce the Crown's requested sentence to slightly more than 13 years.The sentencing hearing before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask is set for all this week. The defence is scheduled to make its sentencing submissions WednesdayCo-accused Randy Potts, 49, who is also a member of the East End chapter of the Hells Angels, is set to be sentenced starting next Monday at the Vancouver Law Courts.The charges against the bikers stem from a $10-million police investigation known as Project E-Pandora that targeted the East End Hells Angels.The two-year investigation, which ended in 2005 with the arrest of more than six Hells Angels in B.C. and a dozen associates, utilized a police agent named Michael Plante, who was promised $1 million to infiltrate the biker club.Plante secretly tape recorded conversations between Punko, Potts and a meth lab cook named Ryan Renaud, whom Punko suspected was also working for the UN gang and its boss Clay Roueche.
The methamphetamine was sold for $13,000 a kilogram. Plante and Punko often had discussions about "cooking" meth and distributing it at a number of locations, Plante and Punko went to various locations in Punko's vehicle including a 7-11 store, Fitness Quest gym and a White Spot restaurant in New Westminster.Punko was earlier convicted of threatening a prosecutor in another Hells Angels case.
Last summer, a jury convicted Punko, Potts and two other Hells Angels members of weapons offences and extortion.In that case, Punko was convicted of the unauthorized possession of a loaded semi-automatic pistol and sentenced to 15 months in jail, plus a consecutive sentence of four years for counselling a police agent to do damage to a Surrey home where Punko was trying to collect a large sum of money from a man.It was effectively a sentence of time served but Punko was denied bail by Leask before sentencing.
Punko has been in custody since he was arrested in July 2005 during the RCMP's Project E-Pandora investigation into the East End chapter.Last year he was sentenced effectively to time served after a jury found him guilty of weapons offences. Randy Potts, one of his co-accused in the gun case, also pleaded guilty to drug trafficking. His sentencing hearing is expected to proceed on Tuesday

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Eight suspected Hells Angels members allegedly involved in drug trafficking and intimidation have been arrested in eastern Ontario.

Wednesday 20 January 2010

They are suspected of being connected to the Ontario Nomads branch of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, and were arrested between Jan. 14 and 18. One warrant remains outstanding.The arrests were the result of an investigation involving the Ontario Provincial Police, the RCMP and several local police forces in the region, said an OPP news release Wednesday. Investigators said the operation was launched in August 2007 after police in the area received complaints about drug trafficking and intimidation.The nine people, including one person who is not in custody, are facing a total of 302 charges related to drugs, weapons, assaults and gang activity.“We’ve got some fully automatic weapons with silencers, brass knuckles, a large amount of jewelry with the insignia of the Hells Angels,” said Det. Pat Benoit, of the Kingston Police, who worked on the case.As part of the investigation, police conducted searches and seized an estimated $249,000 worth of cocaine, cannabis resin and marijuana, and cash totalling $53,000. They also seized a sawed-off shotgun, a machine-gun with silencer and nine handguns.Investigators said they also impounded numerous vehicles, including cars, boats, ATVs and two Harley-Davidson motorcycles.An arrest warrant is still outstanding for Conklin.Those charged include eight men and one woman. The following people have been charged:

Tracy Anne O’Neil, 26, of Brockville.

Ian Conklin, 45, of North Augusta Township.

Blaine Donner, 37, of Brockville.

Craig Haines, 29, of Ottawa.

Jameson Murray, 22, of Ottawa.

Dwayne William Brugma, 26, of Brockville.

Lloyd Macdonald, 39, of Ottawa.

Ryan Albert Morton, 26, of Lansdowne.

Mario Sincennes, 45, of Ottawa.
An arrest warrant is still outstanding for Conklin.

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Robert Martin, 36 one of the top-10 most sought criminals in the province, facing 22 counts of various criminal charges.

Monday 18 January 2010

Two members of the Hells Angels wanted by Quebec police were picked up in Mexico, where authorities say they were hiding out. Robert Martin, 36, was considered by the RCMP and Surete du Quebec (SQ) as one of the top-10 most sought criminals in the province, facing 22 counts of various criminal charges.
Yannick Gauthier, 36, faces at least one charge of racketeering. Arrest warrants were issued against Robert and Gauthier last April, following operation SharQc, which brought together investigators from the RCMP, the SQ and the Montreal Police. Police would not elaborate on the circumstances of the arrest of two individuals. The two men arrived from Mexico on Saturday evening at Dorval Airport. So far, more than 120 outlaw bikers have been arrested in the SharQc operation. About 20 more are still sought. Police believe some are in Quebec, while others are hiding in Mexico or other countries.

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John Virgil Punko, 43, pleaded guilty last month to conspiring to produce and traffic methamphetamine, trafficking drugs and possessing cash that was the proceeds of crime.

John Virgil Punko, 43, pleaded guilty last month to conspiring to produce and traffic methamphetamine, trafficking drugs and possessing cash that was the proceeds of crime.Prosecutor Martha Devlin told the court that Punko should be given 30 months credit for time served in pre-trial custody, which would reduce the Crown requested sentence to slightly more than 13 years.The sentencing hearing before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask is set for all this week.
Co-accused Randy Potts, who is also a member of the East End chapter of the Hells Angels, is set to be sentenced next week.The charges against the bikers stem from a $10-million police investigation that targetted the East End Hells Angels, which ended in 2005 with the arrest of more than six Hells Angels in B.C. and a dozen alleged associates.The police investigation utlilized a police agent, Michael Plant, who was promised $1 million to infiltrate the biker club, wear a secret listening device and gather evidence.Punko was earlier convicted of threatening a prosecutor in another Hells Angels case.Last summer, a jury convicted Punko, Potts and two other Hells Angels members of weapons ofences and extortion.In that case, Punko was convicted of the unauthorized possession of a loaded semi-automatic pistol and sentenced to 15 months in jail, plus a consecutive sentence of four years for counselling a police agent to do damage to a Surrey home where Punko was trying to collect a large amount of money from a man.It was effectively a sentence of time served but Punko was recently denied bail by Leask before sentencing.Potts, who is free on bail before sentencing, is attending Punko’s sentencing.

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Michael Kanaan: Shoot to Kill

Sunday 17 January 2010

Michael Kanaan was an angry young man in a hurry to make a name for himself in Sydney's underworld. But his volatile temper and penchant for violence soon led him to kill three men before he was finally captured in a wild shootout with Sydney police. Born in Australia in 1975 to Lebanese parents he grew up following American crime gang culture in films and music. As a teenager he moved into petty theft and assault before his first arrest, for drug possession, in his early twenties. Despite being given a suspended sentence and a two-year good behaviour bond, he was soon in trouble again, this time for common assault, for which he escaped with a fine. He quickly returned to drug dealing and his gang, known as DK's boys, made huge profits distributing cocaine in Sydney's Kings Cross. His reputation grew and by 1998, at age 23, he had become a lieutenant to organised crime figure Danny Karam. Although outwardly courteous and well spoken, Michael Kanaan had an uncontrollable temper and did not hesitate to use violence to settle disputes. In July 1998, he made a passing comment to some people involved in a fight outside the Five Dock Hotel in Sydney's inner west. When one of them approached him, Kanaan suddenly drew a pistol and shot two men dead. His attempt to shoot a third failed as he had run out of bullets. A few months later, Kanaan led his gang in a drive-by shooting attack on the police station at Lakemba in Sydney in which the building was sprayed with bullets. Soon afterwards he organised the brutal execution of his underworld boss, Danny Karam in December 1998. He was finally cornered by police and arrested after a shoot-out in inner city Rushcutters Bay in which Constable Chris Patrech was wounded.

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Christina Reed of Newell was arrested at her residence Friday on charges of transporting heroin into the state with intent to deliver

Five drug warrants after indictments led to the arrest of three females Friday by the Hancock County Sheriff's Office. Two other females plan on turning themselves in as soon as they return to the state, according to Detective John Robinson of the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug Task Force.Twenty-seven year old Christina Reed of Newell was arrested at her residence Friday on charges of transporting heroin into the state with intent to deliver, and possession of heroin with intent to deliver.
Jacklyn, 20, and Angela Kimble, 18, of New Cumberland were also arrested on charges of conspiracy to deliver heroin and delivery of heroin.Jamie Leek, 26, formerly of Newell has been charged with conspiracy to deliver heroin and delivery of heroin. Leek was in Illinois when an officer contacted her regarding the drug warrant and indictment. She will be turning herself in as soon as possible, Robinson said.
Kaysha Knox, 19, of Newell has been charged with delivery of heroin. Knox was in Atlanta, Ga., when she was contacted by an officer regarding the drug warrant and indictment. Knox will also be turning herself in as soon as possible.
Robinson said all arrests were made and indictments returned Friday. The cases will be handled by the Hancock County Circuit Court.

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Denard Edward "Bird" Carrington pleaded guilty in October to possession of firearms

Friday 15 January 2010

Denard Edward "Bird" Carrington pleaded guilty in October to possession of firearms by a felon, possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of powder cocaine, and possession of an unregistered firearm.In a jury trial that same month, he also was convicted of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. He was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer in Richmond.Authorities said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Richmond Police Department began investigating Carrington's drug dealing last year. Investigators searched his house, at 1701 Peter Paul Blvd., on April 21.
When investigators entered the house, Carrington ran from the living room to the bedroom and jumped out of a rear window. He was caught in the backyard.
According to papers filed in U.S. District Court, as Carrington was led from the residence a neighbor asked him what he was caught with and Carrington replied: "a kilo."Inside Carrington's bedroom authorities seized more than 500 grams of powder cocaine, digital scales with cocaine and marijuana residue on them, drug-packaging materials, documents bearing Carrington's name, a money-counter, a safe, $57,021 in cash, a fully automatic Mac-10 machine gun, an AK-47 semiautomatic assault rifle, and assorted jewelry valued at $32,760.In addition, a Glock 31 .357-caliber handgun was recovered from inside a toilet bowl in the bathroom of the master bedroom.

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Juan Ruben Vela Garcia denied being the leader of the MS-13 gang.

Juan Ruben Vela Garcia knew what he would say in court Thursday could get him killed.
From the witness stand, Garcia, a former member of the MS-13 gang, told jurors that six men on trial were members of the violent gang.
Asked by a prosecutor if he was nervous, Garcia, 30, replied: "Yes, sir, I am."
The prosecutor then asked why he was cooperating with law enforcement.
"I'm ashamed. I'm embarrassed...," he said. "That's the way to get out of the gang. You die or you become a rat. That's what I am now - a rat."Each of the six men on trial at the federal courthouse in Charlotte is charged with racketeering conspiracy. Some also face firearms, drugs and robbery charges. One is charged with murder.The six men on trial are among 26 suspected MS-13 gang members indicted in June 2008. Eighteen, including Garcia, have pleaded guilty. One man is in a prison in El Salvador. Another, charged with murder, is scheduled to be tried for his life later this year.Prosecutors have said the defendants were part of an international organization that committed crimes across Charlotte, including robbery, extortion and murder.Garcia told jurors he's in the witness protection program while incarcerated. He said he became a member of MS-13 in 2000."I joined to fit in - to be in something and to be somebody," Garcia said.
Defense lawyers questioned Garcia's motives for testifying and whether he was telling the truth. One of the lawyers suggested he was testifying because he faces a life sentence and hopes his cooperation will get him a lighter sentence."I just wanted to do the right thing," Garcia said. "I don't want to be a gang member."
Garcia also denied being the leader of the MS-13 gang."I was one of the guys a lot of people respected," he said. "The more people who know you, the more respect you gain."Another former MS-13 gang member, who authorities say helped them infiltrate the gang, took the stand Thursday afternoon. The 21-year-old informant videotaped gang meetings and drug buys, according to the FBI.The informant told jurors he's in the government's witness protection program.Asked by a prosecutor why he needs protection, he replied: "They'll kill me."

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Mother of the Hells Angels bikie Peter Zervas has taken back $20,000 in cash she had provided to keep her son out of jail

Thursday 14 January 2010

Mother of the Hells Angels bikie Peter Zervas has taken back $20,000 in cash she had provided to keep her son out of jail after he was charged last week with threatening her and damaging property at the family's unit in Lakemba.Yesterday Fredericka Bromwich asked Central Local Court to recover the money she had provided to ensure her son's freedom as he faces charges of riot and affray in relation to a brawl between members of two rival bikie gangs at the domestic terminal of Sydney Airport in March.Her youngest son, Anthony, was killed in the melee after he was allegedly hit in the head with a steel post. Eleven Commanchero have been charged with his murder.Police allege that Mr Zervas, who was shot five times as he returned home days after the brawl, destroyed or damaged hundreds of dollars of his mother's property, including six ceramic plates and a glass dinner table, nine days ago.The next day police charged him with stalking, intimidating and intending to cause his mother physical or emotional harm. He was also charged with possessing ecstasy and 46 tablets of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.Mr Zervas faced Burwood Local Court last week charged with the offences and was granted bail. But on Wednesday he was arrested and taken into custody by police after his mother indicated that she wanted to withdraw her financial support.The court had previously required that Mr Zervas live at the Lakemba unit, but that condition was deleted.

Yesterday the magistrate Jane Culver added a further condition to his bail: that he not contact or approach his mother or go within 100 metres of her property.A family friend later provided security and Mr Zervas walked free from the court yesterday afternoon. The case will resume on March 18.

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Topdogz gang was formed over the course of last year and consists of ninety criminals from around the country. It is led by a 43-year-old former Hells Angels member.

Six suspected gang members were arrested on Wednesday as police in southern Sweden seized weapons and explosives in a sting operation targeting the Topdogz criminal organization, local newspaper Sydsvenskan reports. The first three arrests came at four o'clock on Wednesday morning when police stopped a vehicle near Harlösa, 40 kilometres north east of Malmö, where the gang is believed to have access to premises. "We found several weapons, ammunition and something that appeared to be explosives," police investigator Per Wejsfelt told news agency TT. The weapons seized included shotguns, pistols and revolvers. Police have sent in the suspected explosive substance for forensic analysis. Details remain scarce about three further arrests in the area on Wednesday evening that also led to weapons seizures. Bravo, the Skåne region's anti-organized crime unit, followed up Wednesday's operation with nighttime raids on addresses connected to the detained suspects, resulting in the recovery of stolen goods "of considerable worth". The Topdogz gang was formed over the course of last year and consists of ninety criminals from around the country. It is led by a 43-year-old former Hells Angels member.



The group denies police suspicions that it functions as the Hells Angels' "war machine" in Sweden, ready to fight side by side with the larger group in the case of conflicts with other gangs, Sydsvenskan reports.

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Jeff Dubay repeatedly failed drug tests.

Wednesday 13 January 2010

Jeff Dubay was sentenced to the Ramsey County workhouse last July on a felony drug possession charge. Dubay moved to an in-patient drug treatment program in November but repeatedly failed drug tests. According to Ramsey County Court, Dubay's court-ordered drug tests came back positive for cocaine. Dubay will now serve the remaining 88 days of his original 180 days in the workhouse. Dubay was a morning-show host at KFAN-AM with Paul Allen for 10 years. He was fired in October 2008, after being arrested in Maplewood for throwing a plastic bag out of his car that contained cocaine.

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Jose G. Delgado, 25, aka “Z,” of 2325 N. Gonnam Road, Morris was charged with three counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance

Jose G. Delgado, 25, aka “Z,” of 2325 N. Gonnam Road, Morris was charged with three counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, all Class X felonies carrying mandatory prison sentences of 6-30 years with no possibility of probation.
Robert F. Tanner, 28, of 136 DeLeon St., Apt. 1, Ottawa was charged with two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, both Class X felonies. Ashley C. Arwood, 25, of 2325 N. Gonnam Road, Morris was charged with two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, both Class X felonies.
The arrests follow a months-long investigation by Ottawa Police Department Narcotics Unit, the FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
An Ottawa Police Department press release issued Tuesday stated all three subjects were involved in a powder cocaine dealing investigation dating back to spring 2008 and that it may have ties to the Almighty Latin King Nation, specifically from the Aurora area. Police said Delgado is a known member of the gang.
Delgado was ordered held on $200,000 bond; he needs to post $20,000 in cash to be released from custody. Arwood and Tanner both were ordered held on $150,000 and need to post $15,000 in cash.

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Michael Calleja, 51 of Kew, Nicola Ciconte, 54, Vincenzo Medici, 45 and Carmelo Loprete, 41, are to be tried next month in Vibo Valentia in Calabria.

Michael Calleja, 51 of Kew, Nicola Ciconte, 54, Vincenzo Medici, 45 and Carmelo Loprete, 41, are to be tried next month in Vibo Valentia in Calabria.The Age reported that the four allegedly conspired with the Calabrian mafia to ship up to 500kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of $50 million from South America to Melbourne through Italy between 2002 and 2004.The alleged plot was discovered by the Italian police in an operation code names Operation Decollo thanks to infiltrators of the international drug networkCalleja, Medici and Loprete allegedly made several trips to Italy to work out the details of their shipments.Malta-born Calleja is said to have inspected the drugs and later was recorded telling Ciconte that the furniture was beautiful.Australia refused Italian requests for the extradition of the four men.

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Notice of plea agreements for defendants Rhett Epler and Kyle Walla were listed

Monday on an online federal court records database. The documents themselves are not public.John Powell, a spokesman for the U.S Attorney's Office for Wyoming, said Tuesday he could not comment on the possibility of a plea agreement. Attorneys for Epler and Walla did not respond to messages left at their offices.A hearing for Epler to enter a guilty plea has been set for Tuesday before a federal magistrate judge in Casper, court documents show. The same court has scheduled a similar hearing for Walla the following day.Prosecutors have charged Walla, Epler, Joel Murdoch and Christopher Tyson with conspiring to distribute the heroin and cocaine that resulted in the Dec. 2 death of Bryan Guthrie.The 21-year-old Guthrie was the top-ranked bull rider in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association for three weeks last year. He was also the 2003 national junior bull riding champion.The night before his death, Guthrie used heroin with Walla, Murdoch and a confidential source, according to an affidavit signed by David Stevens, an officer with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Authorities suspect he may have overdosed on the drug.
The confidential source told investigators Murdoch, Walla and Tyson drove to Denver on Dec. 1 to buy heroin, and that Guthrie had pitched in $40 or $50.When they returned to Cheyenne, Tyson was dropped off at a trailer park, while Murdoch and Walla continued to Guthrie's house. Once there, the three men, along with the confidential source, used the heroin, according to the affidavit.The source said Murdoch had brought back 1.5 grams of heroin and about $50 of cocaine.In the morning, the source reported finding Guthrie slumped over on a bed. Medics transported him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.The source identified Tyson as Cheyenne's main supplier of heroin, according to the affidavit. Another confidential source and Murdoch allegedly told investigators Epler also distributed heroin.Last month, a federal magistrate ruled Walla and Epler should remain held pending trial. If convicted, they face the possibility of 20 years to life behind bars and $1 million fines.

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Wayne Fletcher on Tuesday adamantly denied authorities’ claims they arrested an accused drug dealer and seized more than three kilograms of cocaine

Wayne Fletcher on Tuesday adamantly denied authorities’ claims they arrested an accused drug dealer and seized more than three kilograms of cocaine at his shop last week. And Fletcher was right, as Manatee County Sheriff’s Office investigators acknowledged the agency reported the wrong location where detectives arrested Jesus “Jesse” Guzman, 32, on federal cocaine trafficking charges. Also, during a raid of Fletcher’s shop, detectives found a marijuana joint, not large amounts of cocaine as originally reported, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Romano. No arrests were made at the shop. “It blew my mind when I saw that,” said Fletcher. “I have worked to build this place up. People come to me to work on their cars, but I don’t have anything to do with what they do in their lives.”Sheriff’s detectives raided Fletcher’s shop, Classic Customs, 2027 Whitfield Drive, after hearing Guzman and others discuss the shop while they were under investigation by federal and local authorities, Romano said. Romano said Fletcher’s shop came up so much throughout the investigation that detectives believed Fletcher may have been involved with Guzman. A couple of Guzman’s cars were seized during the raid at Fletcher’s shop. Detectives are still investigating whether they were purchased with drug money, Romano said.
But it was a simultaneous raid by sheriff’s detectives and DEA agents on Guzman’s home in the 5500 block of Wingate Road in Myakka City, which netted more than three kilograms of cocaine and weapons. Guzman was later arrested at his parents’ house in Palmetto, Romano said.Guzman’s arrest was part of a two-year investigation by federal and local authorities into a drug ring in Manatee and Sarasota counties. The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Monday that Guzman, believed to be the leader of the ring, and 11 others had been indicted on federal weapons and drug charges.
“He was pretty significant,” Romano said of Guzman. Fletcher told the Bradenton Herald on Tuesday he knew Guzman and worked on many of his cars, but had no knowledge of the accusations against him. “I can’t control what someone does. His money was green so I did work on his cars,” Fletcher said. Fletcher said sheriff’s detectives treated him well during the raid. “I have no problem with what they did that day,” he said. “I respect they have a job to do. I just want it known that he was not arrested here and I don’t know anything about any cocaine.”

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Timothy R. Matson, 29, also known as Justin Mark, of Zanesville, entered guilty pleas to two counts of trafficking in heroin

Timothy R. Matson, 29, also known as Justin Mark, of Zanesville, entered guilty pleas to two counts of trafficking in heroin with a forfeiture specification, one count of possession of heroin, one count of possession of marijuana, one count of possession of cocaine, one count of possession of Vicodin and one count of having a weapon while under disability.Matson entered the pleas before Muskingum County Common Pleas Judge Mark Fleegle Tuesday. Fleegle ordered a presentence investigation and bond was continued at $50,000 cash, property or surety.Fleegle also accepted guilty pleas to two counts of deception by Robert C. Gorley, 39, of Malta. Gorley was sentenced to two years in prison

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Hells Angels and Outlaws armed with knives, were involved in the "battle" at the airport.

Tuesday 12 January 2010

Police have issued a picture of a man they are trying to trace in connection with a riot inside an airport terminal.Detectives from West Midlands Police are trying to find 46-year-old Joseph Lagrue to speak to him in connection with the disorder at Birmingham International Airport on January 20, 2008.In June last year seven members of two rival biker gangs were each jailed for six years for their part in the "terrifying" riot.
A trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard how dozens of Hells Angels and Outlaws, some armed with knives, were involved in the "battle" at the airport.Neil Harrison, 46, Paul Arlett, 35, Mark Price, 50, Sean Timmins, 38, Leonard Hawthorne, 52, Mark Moseley, 46, and Jeremy Ball, 46, all from addresses across the West Midlands, were each jailed for six years by Judge Patrick Thomas in June after being previously convicted by a jury.Price, Harrison, Moseley and Ball were Outlaws, and Arlett, Timmins, and Hawthorne, were Hells Angels, the court heard.An eighth defendant, 47-year-old Mark Larner, of Tudor Road in Upper Gornal, West Midlands, fled to South Africa, but handed himself in in November and was jailed for six years.West Midlands Police said Joseph Lagrue was currently featured on the force's Most Wanted site.

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