Gang dispute sparked funeral home shooting that left 2 dead, 12 injured

 

Dispute among gang members at a North Miami-area funeral home sparked a mass shooting that injured 12 people and killed two men, according to Miami-Dade police and law enforcement. The gunmen, who fired a barrage of bullets at a crowd of mourners Friday night, remained on the loose. Investigators have not released information about the shooters, only that a white car may have been involved. One of the victims, a 43-year-old man, died outside the Funeraria Latina Emanuel funeral home, authorities said. The other, a 27-year-old man, died at the hospital. Witnesses at the funeral home had said one of the two people killed was shot in the chest. Among the wounded was a 5-year-old girl who was shot in the leg. She is hospitalized at Jackson Memorial Hospital and is listed in stable condition. The funeral was for Morvin Andre, 21, of North Miami, who was buried Saturday morning at Southern Memorial Park next to the funeral home. Andre was killed March 16 after he tried to jump 22-and-a-half feet from the fourth floor of the Aventura Mall parking garage to escape pursuit from Bloomingdale’s loss prevention employees. Andre landed on his feet, but then fell back and hit his head, according Aventura Police Major Skip Washa, a spokesman. Washa said Saturday the county medical examiner’s office has ruled Andre’s death a suicide because the Bloomingdale’s employees were one floor below Andre when they told him to stop. Instead, he jumped. Originally, it was reported that Andre, a nursing student at Broward Community College, had been killed in a shooting, according to mourners at the funeral home. A law enforcement official told the Miami Herald that the shooting involved members of several South Florida gangs who were in attendance at his wake Friday night to pay their respects. Andre was not part of a gang himself, the official said. Certain gang members took offense when someone touched Andre’s body in the casket, setting off an argument that spilled out into the street. Members of one gang retrieved an assault rifle and a handgun from a car and opened fire at other gang members in front of the funeral home, a police commander told Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS 4. Shooting erupted as more than 100 people were gathered outside the funeral home, in the 14900 block of West Dixie Highway, outside the city limits of North Miami. “I was on my way out of the chapel when I heard the shots,“ said A.D. Lenoir, the pastor who officiated at the service. “I told people to look for cover. It was chaos.” Lenoir, 29, said people were screaming, crying and yelling. Several victims were taken to Jackson, and others to local hospitals. The West Dixie Highway corridor has been the scene of several shootings in recent years. In 2007, the owner of a martial arts studio was fatally gunned down in a drive-by.

Bolsa gunman will face automatic sentence of life in prison

It took the better part of three days but a jury unanimously concluded Real Christian Honorio was one of the gunmen who fatally shot three people at Bolsa Vietnamese Restaurant on New Year's Day 2009. The jury spent some 27 hours deliberating before convicting the 28-year-old member of the 403 Soldiers street gang of first-degree murder in the daylight execution-style deaths of rival FK gang member Sanjeev Mann, 23, and FK associate Aaron Bendle, 21. He faces automatic life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. What appears to have bogged the jury down, however, was its decision regarding bystander Keni Su'a, 43, who was chased down and shot from behind as he fled the eatery just before 4 p.m., after the gunfire erupted. In the end, the jury convicted Honorio of second-degree murder in the death of S'ua. Both first- and second-degree murder require intent to kill, but second-degree murder lacks the planning and deliberation required for first. Defence lawyers Tonii Roulston and Greg Dunn said outside court they were disappointed but respectful of the eight-man, four-woman jury's decisions. "The jury took three days to come to its decision. They obviously thought long and hard about it," Dunn said. "We knew there were people on the jury fighting for Mr. Honorio and fighting for the defence and we'd like to thank those people." Roulston said they advised Honorio before the jury came back "to not make a scene, no matter what the verdict - good or bad for us - and he listened to his counsel." However, she said, when she and Dunn visited him in a consulting room afterward, he was clearly upset. "We thought we had a good case going forward, so did Mr. Honorio," Roulston said. "Like we said, it took three days, so it's something to think about." Honorio was the third gang member convicted by a jury regarding the bloody incident at the restaurant in Macleod Mall at Macleod Trail and 94th Ave. S.E., which shocked the entire city as it came during a bitter gang war that claimed at least 25 lives over five years. Nathan Zuccherato, 25, and Michael Roberto, 28, both members of the FKs bitter rival FOBs, were found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder last October and sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years. A fourth man, Nicholas Hovanesian, also faces the same three first-degree murder charges but has not yet gone to trail. He will be back in court next month. Neither the victims nor the accused had family members in court for support. Roulston said Honorio's parents, who testified in his defence, probably would have been there but couldn't make it on short notice. Prosecutors Rajbir Dhillon and Susan Karpa declined comment after the verdicts. A key to the Crown's case was a three-month undercover police operation that targeted Honorio and led to his confession to the crimes to Det. Rey Bangloy and Sgt. Darren Berglind. Bangloy worked directly with him for three months and Berglind played the boss of a fictitious powerful crime organization during a so-called Mr. Big scenario at a Vancouver hotel on June 2, 2009, in which Honorio was trying to get a full-time job with them. The details of the confession were corroborated fairly closely by two key Crown witnesses -- M.M. and C.E. -- whose identities are protected by publication bans. Roulston said she is vehemently opposed to such operations, as there is always a danger that someone wrongfully confessed to a crime just to ensure a place in such an organization.

The Crips, one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the United States, has spread its network of crime into high schools across the country

 

The Crips, one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the United States, has spread its network of crime into high schools across the country, including Virginia, where gang leaders recruited young girls as prostitutes with promises of “lots of money” and then maintained their allegiance through beatings, threats, assaults and an endless supply of drugs. With over 35,000 members in an estimated 800 individual gangs or “sets” in more than 30 states and 120 cities, the Crips recruited the girls — some of them runaways —  after approaching them on the street or at Metro stations and by making contact with them through Facebook and DateHookUp.com. Most of the girls are 15 and 16 who, according to documents unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, became reluctant to report their “pimps” to the police after what law enforcement authorities described as violent and frequent beatings and threats. With a requirement to commit acts of violence to obtain or maintain their gang membership, the Crips locally have added to their reputations as violent street thugs. In the Washington Metropolitan area, they have been involved in attempted murders, assaults, rapes, robberies, thefts, drug distribution, obstruction of justice by threatening witnesses and racketeering to fund their enterprise. The arrest of five members of the Virginia-based set known as the Underground Gangster Crips (UGC) was announced Thursday in Fairfax County, charged with running a prostitution business that recruited high school girls and threatened them with violence if they attempted to leave. Including those charges, 11 members of area gangs have been named on charges of underage sex trafficking since 2011 as part of a number of ongoing investigations. Justin “J-Dirt” Strom, 26, of Lorton; Donyel “Bleek” Dove, 27, of Alexandria; Michael “Loc” Jefferies, 21, of Woodbridge; Henock “Knocks” Ghile, 23, of Springfield; and Christopher Sylvia, 22, of Springfield, were charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia in connection with a prostitution ring that operated throughout Northern Virginia. Mr. Strom was identified by the FBI as the known leader of the UGC. If convicted, each could receive a sentence of life in prison. “The sex trafficking of young girls is an unconscionable crime involving unspeakable trauma,” said U.S. Attorney Neil H. McBride. “These gang members are alleged to have lured many area high school girls in the vile world of prostitution, and used violence and threats to keep them working as indentured sex slaves.” Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II described the situation as “every parent’s worst nightmare,” saying it also demonstrated that human trafficking can happen anywhere and is “a very real danger here in Virginia.” “By working together with U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride and our law enforcement partners, we will send a swift and strong message that this criminal behavior will not be tolerated in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” he said. Between April 2009 and March 2012, according to an affidavit by FBI Agent Jeffrey F. Johannes, at least 10 high school girls were recruited by UGC leaders, including one 16-year-old girl who was approached by Mr. Strom at a Metro station, told she was pretty and advised “she could make a lot of money by having sex with men.” Many of the girls were required to submit to sex with members of the gang as a “try out” or an “initiation” before they worked as prostitutes. The affidavit said the girls were told the UGC would receive $50 for vaginal sex and $20 for oral sex and that they would receive half of the proceeds. They also were given marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and alcohol before and after they had sex with various men, the affidavit said. The sex generally occurred at hotels, but the girls often were told to go door-to-door to solicit men for sex. When one girl told Mr. Strom she no longer wanted to participate in the prostitution, the affidavit said he choked her and threatened her with additional violence. The affidavit also said that Mr. Strom threatened another girl, 17, with a knife, cutting her on the arm when she refused to use cocaine and then forced her to have sex with him. It said she was then taken to an apartment where she was forced to have intercourse with “fourteen unknown males,” from whom Mr. Strom collected $1,000. Two other UGC members drove her home, telling her she “got what she had coming” and, according to the affidavit, if she spoke of the events that they would “come back and kill her.”

30-year-old Crip gang member was sentenced to 90 years to life in prison Tuesday for shooting and killing a man at Karma Nightlife.

 

 Joseph Ray Rice was convicted in a jury trial March 2 of the first-degree murder of Delvon Williams to benefit a gang. On Nov. 19, 2010, Williams, 26, took a friend out to the nightclub for his 21st birthday. Williams had never been to Karma before, according to his family member. The surveillance video shows Rice walking around the victim on the patio prior to the shooting. While Rice was talking to Williams’ group, the victim indicated he was a Blood gang member, prosecutors said. The video shows Rice pull out a gun and shoot Williams in the head from a few feet away as the victim collapsed to the ground. “He was a big teddy bear with a smile, no matter what color you are or where you are from,” said Patricia McCray, the victim’s mother, in her impact statement Tuesday. Rice was on the run for four months until authorities arrested him in Lenwood in March 2011. His defense attorney said the shooting had nothing to do with the gang rivalry. Rice wasn’t happy Williams was loud and boisterous speaking about his gang affiliation and criminal history to a girl Rice was keeping an eye on, Deputy Public Defender David Sanders said. Rice has a strike from his 2004 attempted robbery conviction in San Bernardino, for which he was sentenced to five years in prison. When Victorville Superior Court Judge John Tomberlin sentenced him to the maximum possible prison terms, there was light applause from the audience.

members of the South End-based Original Gangsta Killas and Bloods street gangs large-scale takedown of a violent multi-state drug ring tied to 27 shootings, three killings and two shootings at police officers

 

Police charged dozens of reputed Albany gang members and associates Tuesday in a large-scale takedown of a violent multi-state drug ring tied to 27 shootings, three killings and two shootings at police officers. In early morning sweeps, investigators working for state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman charged 52 defendants, including alleged members of the South End-based Original Gangsta Killas and Bloods street gangs. The bust netted a reputed Bloods member who works for the SNUG anti-violence organization, one alleged associate of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Vermont and the wife of notorious drug dealer Michael "Murder" Hoffler, who was accused of killing police informant Christopher Drabik in 2003. It is the largest crackdown in the history of the attorney general's Organized Crime Task Force, officials said. "Shutting this down has made our state safer," Schneiderman told reporters at a news conference Tuesday, joined by State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico, Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings, Police Chief Steven Krokoff and several of the 18 guns seized in the bust. "This is one of the most violent, vicious and ambitious criminal enterprises we've ever seen." The 261-count indictment included allegations that defendants sold large amounts of heroin, cocaine and prescription painkillers such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and Percocet. The ring dealt drugs from New York City to Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Warren, Greene, Orange and Rockland counties. The ring would rent hotel rooms where they hired underlings to "bag massive quantities of drugs," said Schneiderman, who said defendants were caught on tape discussing "dividing up their territories." More than 150 officers hit at least 60 locations in Albany, Cohoes, Troy, New York City and Bennington, Vt. The case was dubbed "Operation OGK," after the street gang. In 2009, federal prosecutors in Albany charged 25 members and associates of the "downtown"-based gang with racketeering that included wide drug-dealing and 14 shooting incidents. That followed a 2006 racketeering case against the Jungle Junkies, OGK's "uptown"-based rivals in West Hill and Arbor Hill. One of Tuesday's defendants, reputed OGK member Jamel Pearson, 34, of Albany, known as "Melly Mel," allegedly planned to use a handgun to shoot uptown rivals to avenge the Nov. 29 murder of Richard "50 Cent" Gibbs, an OGK-linked drug dealer, in Albany. Gibbs, who had served four years in prison for selling cocaine, would have been part of Tuesday's indictment, authorities said. Authorities said Pearson was set to get the gun from defendant Mario Perez, 34, of Troy, who was storing the weapon with another defendant, Christopher Padelsky, 38, of Troy. Schneiderman cited thousands of hours of wiretaps in which the defendants would "openly talk about trying to get weapons to retaliate against each other." He said authorities needed to act quickly to get the defendants off the street or risk more bloodshed. "These people were shooters — they were out shooting each other," the attorney general said. "We know that there are at least 27 confirmed shootings associated with this enterprise, two officer shootings and three fatalities among them." Details on the shootings, other than the Gibbs killing, were not immediately disclosed. Schneiderman said the case began with a tip to Albany police, who contacted the attorney general's task force, he said, noting the trail of smaller drug dealers led investigators to the top of the chain. Perez had been among five defendants charged as major traffickers of narcotics, which means they could face life in prison if convicted. The other four were Anthony "Ant" Lugo, 37, of Manhattan, allegedly at the top of the drug ring; Guy Anderson, 34, of Albany, allegedly the leader of the ring in Albany; Haneef Washington, 32, of Albany, who has alleged ties to both the Bloods and OGK; and Michael "Jigga" Williams, 26, of Albany, a reputed Bloods member.

New Black Panther leader arrested as group sets bounty in Florida shooting

 

high-ranking member of the New Black Panther Party was arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said Monday. DeKalb County Sheriff's Office Hashim Nzinga, 49, was arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. More Atlanta area news » Immigration-related complaint may become ‘moot' 'Chicken Man' house explodes Trayvon Martin rally at Capitol draws many Gang member guilty of 2011 killing Hashim Nzinga, 49, recently announced on CNN that his group was offering a $10,000 reward for the capture of George Zimmerman, the man who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. CNN identified Nzinga as the chief of staff of the New Black Panther Party. According to a DeKalb arrest warrant, Nzinga was in possession of an FN Herstal 5.7 x 28 handgun, which investigators said he pawned at a shop on Rockbridge Road. That alleged transaction would be illegal due to Nzinga’s convictions last month for felony deposit account fraud in Gwinnett County, the DeKalb Sheriff's Office said. Nzinga was arrested by members of the fugitive squad at a probation office in Lawrenceville and transported to DeKalb County Jail. The New Black Panther Party is offering a $10,000 bounty for the capture of Zimmerman, the Florida neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed Martin, an unarmed teenager, last month. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," Black Panther leader Mikhail Muhammad said Saturday at a rally in Sanford, where Martin was killed Feb. 26, according to Fox News. Zimmerman has claimed he shot Martin in self-defense, but the New Black Panthers are calling for mobilization of 10,000 black men to capture Zimmerman, who has gone into hiding, the Orlando Sentinel reported. "He should be fearful for his life," Muhammad said. "You can't keep killing black children." According to the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the New Black Panthers "is a virulently racist and anti-Semitic organization whose leaders have encouraged violence against whites, Jews and law enforcement officers." The group was founded in Dallas in 1989 and believes black Americans should have their own nation, according to the SPLC. Zimmerman shot Martin as he returned to his father's house from a store where he had bought candy. Zimmerman told a 911 dispatcher that Martin was acting suspicious and told police that he was attacked by Martin. Sanford police say they were advised by prosecutors that they did not have enough evidence to charge Zimmerman.

Man Shot In Mission District After Denying Gang Affiliation

 

A man believed to be 20 years old was shot in the leg when two male suspects confronted him in San Francisco's Mission District early this morning, San Francisco police said. The 20-year-old was walking near 15th and Capp streets around 2 a.m., police said, when he was approached by two males dressed in all black who asked him if he was in a gang. The victim said he was not affiliated with any gangs, after which the suspects shot him in the leg and fled the scene before police arrived, police said. The victim was treated at the scene and then taken to the hospital in stable condition, police said. The suspects were only described as Hispanic males wearing all black clothing, according to police.

TB22 Street Gang

 

9 Charged In Rape Of 14-Year-Old Girl In St. Paul Nine men and teens have been charged in the rape of a 14-year-old girl who was forced onto a mattress on the floor and held down while some of the defendants assaulted her.

London drug gang members must spend more than 20 years in jail after Norwich murder

Honorato Christovao, 54, died four days after being attacked in the Rose Lane car park in the city by Anton St Paul and Spencer Yiadom. Yiadom, who admitted his part in the attack earlier in the trial at Norwich Crown Court, must spend at least 24 years in jail, and St Paul, who was found guilty by a Norwich jury yesterday, will spend at least 23 years in jail. The attack on February 10, 2011 was the result of a drug dispute, which spilled over to Norwich from London’s gangland. Yiadom and St Paul, both from London, were members of the GBen gang. They travelled up from the capital to carry out a revenge attack on rivals, the JJ gang. The evening before Mr Christovao died, the JJ gang robbed two members of the GBen gang, taking drugs, cash and phones. Seeking revenge the GBen gang members set up a meeting through prostitute Lucy Browne, with Mr Christovao’s long term partner, Sharon Hodgson. Miss Hodgson dealt small quantities of drugs from her flat for the JJ gang. She believed she was going to Rose Lane car park to meet Lucy Browne to buy some drugs. Miss Hodgson decided to bring her boyfriend with her as protection. But when they arrived they were confronted by the GBen gang and the father-of-one was beaten, suffering lethal head injuries. During the trial, the court heard how Mr Christovao was not a drug dealer or involved in the gang.

Gangland hitman Sean Sonnet told by judge he still has time to go straight after 45 convictions

 

VIOLENT criminal who was overpowered by police as he was on his way to murder underworld figure Mario Condello was told yesterday it was still not too late to give up crime. Justice Lex Lasry told Sean Sonnet that despite his 45 prior convictions and long history of violence he was not "beyond redemption" and that authorities should consider Sonnet for parole when his minimum term expires. "It is not too late for you if you choose to make a life for yourself," Justice Lasry told Sonnet, who was jailed for 7 1/2 years. He will be eligible for parole in just under three years because of time already served. Justice Lasry said the "hit" arose out of a relationship Sonnet had with drug lord and underworld figure Carl Williams and two other criminals. The four men plotted to kill their target and Sonnet was to be the shooter. The judge said Sonnet was arrested on June 9, 2004 outside the Brighton cemetery, near Condello's home, by Special Operations Group officers. Police found a 9mm Luger Baretta down the front of Sonnet's pants and a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver in a bumbag. Both were fully loaded and ready to go. Listen to Lex Lasry hand down Sonnett's sentence "The plan in which you were involved and in which you were to be the person who would kill the target of the agreement was a callous and planned conspiracy," Justice Lasry said during his Supreme Court sentence. "You were on the verge of putting the plan into effect by shooting a person you thought was the target." Sonnet, 42, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder after he won a retrial and after denying for years that he intended to kill anyone. When he was sentenced after his first conspiracy trial, Justice Betty King described Sonnet as a "gun for hire" who was recruited by Williams during the gangland war to cold-bloodedly murder Condello for payment of between $120,000 and $145,000. Justice Lasry set a maximum term of 10 1/2 years.

'Golden gun' gangster Louie Pucariello goes to jail

 

THE final link in Sydney's extravagant "Golden Gun'' cocaine syndicate cut a forlorn figure in the courtroom. A long way from the Versace-dappled luxury that characterised the lifestyles of the drug ring's chiefs, a former swimming-pool finisher faced sentencing in the District Court for handling the racket's ill-gotten gains. Louie Pucariello, an Italian-born, 58-year-old former body builder, was caught with a suitcase and backpack stuffed with over $1.5 million in cash when police raided his Moorebank house in March 2007. In the kitchen, officers found more than 300g of cocaine hidden in a Kraft Easy Mac macaroni and cheese packet that was sitting in the pantry, according to court documents. Police had earlier intercepted a phone call between Pucariello and Luke Sparos, 30, who the court heard rented jet-ski space on the Georges River property. Pucariello also attended the lavish wedding of Alen Moradian, 37, dubbed the Tony Soprano of the cocaine circuit by his new wife Natasha. Moradian's palatial West Pennant Hills mansion boasted Vesace-branded fittings from the bedspreads to the furniture. The two young men were the kingpins of a major cocaine-importation syndicate that was named after a gold-plated Magnum handgun seized during a massive police bust five years ago. A dozen people have now been sentenced for their roles in the gang, including 15- and 16-year jail terms for leaders Sparos and Moradian. The court heard Pucariello was "a bad judge of character'' whose life shared little of the opulence the major players enjoyed. His partner of 21 years described him as a "vain man'', who would flex in the mirror and joke "is this an arm or a leg?'' before injuries and illness wrecked his health. "(Now) he's been known to leave phones and remote controls in other peoples houses  he takes them with him as a security blanket,'' she said. Judge Andrew Haesler accepted Pucariello was only small player in the drug syndicate, but said he played a "crucial'' role in hiding others' wrongdoing. "Without people low on the hierarchy, the whole (drug operation) collapses,'' he said. Pucariello was sentenced to a minimum one year and nine months in jail.

Body left on street a warning, gangster testifies

 

The purported leader of the Greeks gang didn't worry that the body of murder victim Ronald Thom was left on a street in Vernon, B.C., because he wanted to send a message to others not to cross the gang, British Columbia Supreme Court heard Friday. A former gang member turned Crown witness testified he had no concerns about leaving Thom in public view after the May 2005 killing because that is what Peter Manolakos wanted. "Everything was clean in terms of the shell casings," said the man, who cannot be identified under a publication ban. "There were no identifying fingerprints. And I was instructed to leave him in the middle of the road." Crown prosecutor David Jardine asked the witness why Manolakos wanted Thom left as he was. "To set an example for future RCMP collaborators," the witness replied. Earlier, the man testified that Manolakos ordered the hit on Thom because he thought Thom had provided information to police about the Vernon gang. He said accused killers and gang members Dale Sipes and Sheldon O'Donnell had accompanied him to shoot Thom. And he told jurors that he had asked another accused, Douglas Brownell, to lure Thom to a remote spot outside Vernon, though Brownell was not aware of the murder plot. After the slaying, an associate of Brownell called the witness to complain that Brownell has been unwittingly implicated. "He had claimed that we were setting up Doug and we were going to war," the witness said. He testified he lied to Brownell's associate by claiming that: "Doug knew full well what was going to happen and that he should relax and that if he didn't believe me he could put a bullet in me right then and there." "At the end of the conversation he said to me, 'Well any guy that says that I have got to believe him,' " the witness said. During his six days on the stand, the man recounted details of the slayings of Thom on May 30, 2005, David Marniuk in the summer of 2004 and Thomas Bryce in November 2004. Manolakos, Sipes, O'Donnell, Brownell and Leslie Podolski each face charges in connection with one or more of the slayings. All five accused have pleaded not guilty. The jury trial began under tight security at the Vancouver Law Courts last May and is expected to wrap up late this year.

Abbotsford gangster Jamie Bacon is appealing his recent weapons conviction. His lawyer is arguing weapons seized in the investigation were wrongfully seized and shouldn't have been entered as evidence.

 

Photograph by: Abbotsford Times, File photo

A lawyer for notorious gangster Jamie Bacon argued Friday that a judge wrongly admitted at trial firearms seized by police from a secret compartment in a vehicle.

In December 2010, Bacon was sentenced in B.C. Provincial Court to seven years in jail in connection with a series of weapons-related charges.

He had challenged at trial the admissibility of the evidence against him - four handguns and ammunition found in a vehicle frequently driven by him - following a shooting incident at the Bacon home in Surrey in April 2007.

Bacon, who was shot but not seriously injured in the shooting, argued his rights were violated when police executed a search warrant on the Chevrolet Suburban.

The judge concluded that while it was technically a warrantless search, it was not a serious enough violation to exclude the evidence against him.

She went on to convict Bacon but acquit his brother, Jarrod.

On appeal, Bacon's lawyer, David Layton, argued that the judge had made a number of errors in her assessment of the Charter violation.

He told a three-member panel of the B.C. Court of Appeal that the judge had misunderstood the seriousness of the breach.

Layton argued that allowing the evidence would have an adverse effect on the public's confidence in the administration of justice.

He also submitted that the judge had made a number of errors in her conviction of the accused.

Layton's arguments came under close scrutiny by the panel, which peppered him with questions.

Crown counsel Peter Hogg told the panel that the judge had made no such errors.

He pointed out the seriousness of the circumstances, in which police arrived on the scene "where literally the sounds of gunfire had just died" and the smell of gun smoke was in the air.

"Here, the guns, in this set of circumstances, they should be admitted in evidence."

Layton was expected to make a short reply Friday afternoon, following which the panel was expected to reserve judgment.

Bacon is awaiting trial in the Surrey Six murder case. Jarrod Bacon, recently convicted of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, is to be sentenced on April 27. Last summer, a third Bacon brother, Jonathan, was gunned down in a gangland slaying in Kelowna.

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Mafia Bosses 'Turn Cannibal': Serbian Gangsters 'Ate Milan Jurisic In A Flat In Madrid' Say Police

A mafia traitor was beaten to death and then eaten by Serbian gangsters, police believe. Milan Jurisic, 37, was killed with a hammer by a gang of criminals from the Zemun Clan, a mafia group from Belgrade, in Madrid. His remains were then ground up with a meat grinder, cooked, and eaten, according to a confession by another Zemun Clan member, Sretko Kalinic, nicknamed "The Butcher". Later the gang reportedly threw the bones into the River Manzanares in the Spanish capital. This week, police found bones in the river and the apartment where the killing apparently took place in 2009. Jurisic is thought to have betrayed his fellow gang members by stealing money from them. He was on the run after being convicted in his absence of assassinating Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic in 2003. Kalinic confessed to the murder after he was arrested in the Croatian capital of Zagreb in 2010. Police believe the murder and subsequent cannibalism was led by Luka Bojovic, a Serbian gangster arrested in Valencia last month. Bojovic was also on the run after being accused of assassinating Djindjic. Inside Bojovic's apartment in Valencia police found documents backing up Kalinic's account of the killing. The murder is being investigated by magistrate Fernando Andreu at the National Court in Madrid.

Chinese gangster pictures from a lost cell phone

It seems that Chinese gangster pictures from a lost cell phone show a hoodlum fondling puppies, Porsches, and a purse among other things. The gangster in the viral photos actually posed with huge stacks of money (about $174,000).

The online album is called "Pics from a Chinese gangsters phone." The pictures show the hefty male with his shirt off a lot, so that his tattoos are on display. Of course, the pics were on his phone, and may not have been meant for the entire world to see. At this point, though, people should be aware that phones are not a safe place to keep personal photos.

Unfortunately, the gangster pictures actually show this man and his cohorts beating somebody on a dirt road, which is terrible. Even with all the details in the photos, nobody has come forward with the man's identity. Some people wonder if he could be part of an organized crime ring in China, but so far that is just speculation.

The pictures certainly show a bit of the life of a Chinese gangster. Unfortunately, this man seems rather lonely even with all his high-profile cars, cash, jewelry, and expensive man purses. What do you think about this guy? Is he happy, or is he lonely?

One thing seems certain, though. With the level of details these photos show, somebody, somewhere is probably going to identify this thug, and then people will know exactly who he is. Do you think he'll go into hiding then?

One person was killed and three were wounded in shootings Tuesday night and Wednesday morning as a surge in violence that began Friday continued.

The shootings come on the heels of a weekend in which eight people were shot, followed by a drive-by fatal shooting Monday night in the Bayview neighborhood. Several of the incidents appear to have stemmed from robbery attempts, and others have occurred in neighborhoods not typically associated with gun violence in the city. Related Charges pending in Baltimore Co. triple stabbing Brooklyn man sentenced for selling $140,000 in fake IDs Supreme Court decisions could help free convicted child rapist Police chief says alleged Leopold files may violate law Balt. Co. report: Firefighter's death had 'no single cause' Baltimore Crime Beat blog Interactive map: Baltimore City homicides See more stories » Topics Shootings Theft Murder See more topics » Because of a similar rash of shootings last year — 18 people were shot the weekend of March 20, 2011 — shootings are down compared with last year, with 72 shot this year compared to 76 at this time in 2011.

Oklahoma City police identify man killed in drive-by shooting on Broadway Extension

 

The victims of a fatal drive-by shooting on the Broadway Extension were identified by police Wednesday. Charles Gordon, 24, was killed, and Dewon Thomas, 33, was wounded Tuesday night, said Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow. Charles Gordon, 24, was killed in a shooting Tuesday night in north Oklahoma City.Oklahoma City police identify man killed in drive-by shooting Mar 21Police are searching for a car used in a drive-by... Oklahoma City police identify man killed in drive-by shooting on Broadway Extension  How to help Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the homicide tip line at 297-1200. Police were called shortly before 9:30 p.m. to the area of NW 63 and Broadway Extension, where they found two men with gunshot wounds, Wardlow said. Gordon was pronounced dead at the scene, and Thomas was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released. Investigators said it appears the two men were in the same vehicle southbound on the Broadway Extension when another vehicle pulled up next to them and someone began firing. Police said the victims got off the highway and pulled into a convenience store at 101 NW 63. Gordon died outside the store. The other vehicle — described as a dark-colored Camry, Acura, or a similar model — was seen exiting the highway on Wilshire Boulevard. “Obviously the Broadway Extension is a busy roadway and we're hopeful someone might have seen something that could help us find the suspects in this case,” Wardlow said. Court records show Thomas has a criminal history including possession of a firearm, distribution of cocaine, assault with a dangerous weapon and trafficking in illegal drugs. Records show Gordon pleaded guilty to domestic abuse by strangulation in 2010.

Gang Member in 'Mickey' Hernandez Murder Pleads Guilty

The suspect in the death of 15-year-old Miguel 'Mickey' Hernandez has pleaded guilty to charges of first degree murder and criminal gang activity. Boris Alfredo Juarez Ascencio, 19, of Fairfax, was in court this week for a jury trial, but changed his pleas from not guilty to guilty, according to a report on InsideNova.com. The charges stem from the stabbing death of Hernandez as he walked home from Osbourn High School to his home in Georgetown South in the fall of 2010.  Juarez Ascencio is described as a member of local gang MS-13, who fatally stabbed Hernandez in the chest because he thought he was a member of a rival gang. But Father Ramon Dominique, who heads the   Youth Apostles Institute’s Don Bosco Center after school program at the Georgetown South Community Center, said Hernandez was not involved in a gang. "He was trying to do what he could to get away from that," Father Ramon said. "He had become even more active with the local church community...and he was really doing good things." One year after his death—on Nov. 18 2011—the community center dedicated a new activity field to Hernandez because he loved to play soccer there with his friends and family. Another suspect is also facing murder and criminal gang participation charges pending in juvenile court, according to the report. Juarez Ascencio faces up to life in prison for the murder charge, and up to 10 years in prison for the criminal gang participation charge. He will go to sentencing on June 29.

Aryan Brotherhood of Texas Gang Member Convicted in Houston of Racketeering Charges

 

Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) gang member David Harlow was found guilty today by Senior United States District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr in Houston of racketeering aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit racketeering aggravated assault for his role in the 2008 beating of a gang prospect. The guilty verdict was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson for the Southern District of Texas. According to evidence presented at trial, Harlow, 43, aka “Bam Bam,” was a member of the ABT, a powerful race-based, state-wide organization that operated inside and outside of state and federal prisons and elsewhere in the United States.   The evidence showed that the ABT was established in the early 1980s within the Texas prison system and modeled itself after and adopted many of the teachings and writings of the Aryan Brotherhood, a California-based prison gang that was formed in the California prison system during the 1960s.   According to court filings, the ABT was primarily concerned with the protection of white inmates and white supremacy/separatism.   Over time, however, the ABT expanded its criminal enterprise to include illegal activities for profit.   The evidence presented at trial also showed that the ABT enforced its rules and promoted discipline among its members, prospects and associates through murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, assault, robbery and threats against those who violate the rules or pose a threat to the enterprise.   Members, and oftentimes associates, are required to follow the orders of higher-ranking members, often referred to as “direct orders.”   All of Harlow’s 11 co-defendants, including Cooke, previously pleaded guilty to violent crimes in aid of racketeering. Harlow faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.   Sentencing for Harlow is scheduled for June 15, 2012, before Judge Werlein.    This case is being investigated by FBI’s Multi-Agency Gang Task Force consisting of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the FBI; the United States Marshals Service; the Texas Rangers, the Texas Department of Public Safety; the Montgomery County, Texas, Precinct 4 Constables Office; the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department; the Houston Police Department-Gang Division; and the Harris County, Texas Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by David Karpel of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant United States Attorney Jay Hileman of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

TWO men who have been arrested by detectives investigating the murder of crime boss Eamon 'The Don' Dunne are senior lieutenants of crime lord Christy Kinahan.

 The mobsters were picked up by armed gardai during a dawn raid at a property in the north inner city and are currently in custody at Store Street Garda Station. Sources do not believe that either is the gunman who actually killed Dunne in the gangland murder in a Cabra pub in April 2010 but they believe that the pair played a key role in organising the hit. The Herald can today reveal that gardai also planned to arrest the young criminal who they believe shot Dunne but he "has gone to ground." The north inner city gunman is a close associate of the two related men who are in garda custody today. Selling One of those arrested -- aged in his late 20s -- was mentioned by Spanish authorities in the four-page European Arrest Warrant they used to extradite 'Fat' Freddie Thompson to Spain last year. The warrant asserts explosive details about the criminal's role within the multi-million euro Christy Kinahan drugs organisation. This man, who comes from a flats complex in the city, was previously arrested by Spanish police as part of Operation Shovel -- the massive probe against Kinahan's organisation which revealed that his mob were selling shipments of drugs worth a staggering €1m every two months. The 'Fat' Freddie warrant alleges that the arrested criminal is a "member of this organisation in Ireland". The warrant claims that the criminal travelled to Malaga on May 7, 2010, to meet Christy Kinahan's son Daniel to discuss a major drugs shipment into Ireland. "Daniel was supposedly going to finance part of the shipment. A surveillance operation was launched in Malaga Airport and officers saw Ross Browning, another one of the persons under investigation, arrive at the airport," the warrant alleges. The Herald has previously revealed that Browning (28) was named in the warrant, which claims he was a driver for the Kinahan drugs organisation. Browning, from the north inner city, is a close associate of the men arrested yesterday. In January 2001, a 30-year-old, who is in custody today, was involved with Browning in the robbery of over £IR13,000 from a a Securicor van driver. Both men later received suspended sentences. Gardai believe the shocking murder of Dunne was sanctioned by Christy Kinahan who felt that the reckless behaviour of the gang boss was getting out of control. 'Dapper Don' Kinahan -- who is serving the last days of a jail sentence for money laundering in Belgium -- is regarded as the biggest drugs trafficker in the history of the Irish State.

Stockton police say gang violence is to blame for the death of two men in their early to mid-20s on Don Carlos Avenue.

 

The victims were found lying in the street. A third man suffered minor injuries. Police say another gang related death and shooting happened on the 8100 hundred block of West Lane. It was there that they found a 21-year-old lying next to the curb. He later died at the hospital. A second man at the same scene was taken to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. He's listed in stable condition. No arrests have been made in either case.

Gang leader gets 28 years in prison

Latin Kings gang leader from Pennsylvania was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for a series of violent crimes, including a foiled attempt to assassinate rival gang members in Vineland in 2004. Federal law enforcement authorities say Luis Colon, 28, of Allentown was the founding member and “First Crown” of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation Bethlehem Sun Tribe. Colon went by the nickname “King Respect,” authorities said. He was among 24 alleged gang members charged in 2010 as part of a federally funded sweep targeting “the most violent and pervasive gangs in the country,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Eastern Pennsylvania. Colon pleaded guilty in July to charges of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering activity, distributing crack cocaine and methamphetamine, and using a firearm during a violent crime. He admitted to being part of a group of six “soldiers” from the Allentown/Bethlehem region who traveled to Vineland on St. Patrick’s Day 2004 on orders of the Latin Kings’ Philadelphia chapter. Armed with guns and body armor, they intended to murder several Latin King members from New Jersey at Vineland Garden Apartments on South Sixth Street as part of a drug-dealing turf war. But police learned about the plot, staked out the complex and thwarted what could have been a massacre. Colon was among 24 people arrested. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says violence and intimidation were common tactics Colon’s gang used to “maintain maintain territory, power, and profits. The gang even kidnapped, assaulted, and murdered its own members for violating any of the tribe’s rules.” Colon was sentenced Wednesday in federal court. In addition to the prison time, he was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and complete 10 years of supervised release. His guilty plea included other crimes, including conspiring to possibly murder someone he believed cooperated with authorities on a homicide investigation. And in 2008, Colon paid two couriers $40,000 to pick up meth from his uncle in Las Vegas and bring it to Philadelphia, but authorities intercepted the 1,793 grams of meth.

former Wellington-based gang member has narrowly spared a prison sentence because the judge wanted to give him a chance to turn his life around.

 George Warren, living in Blenheim, appeared before Judge Denys Barry in the Blenheim District Court yesterday, facing two charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and one charge of possession of a class A drug, namely LSD. The items were recovered during a police search warrant in Tawa, Wellington on December 8, Judge Barry said. Since the incident, Warren had removed himself from his past and left his gang associates behind, by relocating to Blenheim. "I take into account your genuine remorse and regret that you ended up in that position. At 39 years of age, perhaps you have finally come full circle and you do want to start fresh," Judge Barry said. Warren was sentenced to 11 months' home detention and ordered to undergo any counselling as requested. Judge Barry also ordered the destruction of the firearms and LSD. Maxwell John Brydon, 21, a deck hand of Blenheim, admitted intentionally damaging the front plate window of First National, valued at $1233.48. Judge Barry sentenced him to 55 hours' community work and remitted any outstanding fines. Brydon was also ordered to pay for the window replacement costs. Malcolm Crouch, 18, 400mcg. Legal limit (at the time) for under-20, was 150mcg. Fined $400, disqualified for three months and ordered to pay court costs. Jamie Robert Gibson, 33, a car groomer of Blenheim, 569mcg. Gibson also admitted common assault, cultivation of cannabis and two charges of driving while disqualified. He pleaded not guilty to receiving a stolen mountain bike. Judge Barry remanded Gibson on bail for sentencing on all charges, including the drink-driving charge, until May 28.

Pasco man fled, threw loaded gun from car, Hernando deputies say

 

A deputy spotted the yellow Chevrolet Cavalier just after 3 a.m. Tuesday. The vehicle had no license plate, authorities said, so the deputy flipped on his siren and emergency lights. The Chevy bolted, a report said, speeding south on Deltona Boulevard at more than 100 mph. As the deputy lost sight of the suspect's vehicle, he switched off his lights and, at a normal speed, also drove south. At the intersection of Deltona and Spring Hill Drive, the deputy heard what sounded like a speeding car just north of him. He made a U-turn and headed north until, a report said, he again spotted the Chevy driving east on Canterbury Street toward Deltona. When the driver noticed the patrol car, authorities said, the vehicle careened across Deltona and through a yard where it smashed into a tree. Minutes earlier, investigators said, the vehicle had struck a stop sign. The driver, who deputies identified as 32-year-old Benito Cuevas of Wesley Chapel, stepped out of the car. The deputy ordered him to the ground and handcuffed him. Cuevas' girlfriend, Victoria Valentin, was in the passenger seat. Before she was taken to a hospital, Valentin told investigators Cuevas had tossed a pistol from the Chevy as he fled, according to the report. The suspect denied it. After more than two hours searching the path the Chevy had driven, deputies found a black Ruger handgun in the front yard of a house on Deltona near Norbert Street. The hammer was cocked, authorities said, and a .40-caliber full metal jacket round was in the chamber. Fifteen feet away they discovered a magazine loaded with nine more rounds. At the time of the incident, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office had four warrants out for Cuevas' arrest. Pasco sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said the suspect had failed to appear in court to face charges of driving with a suspended or revoked license, driving without a driver's license and a pair of drug charges. In Hernando, Cuevas was arrested on six criminal counts related to the incident and the gun possession. He is being held in the Hernando County Detention Center in lieu of $41,250 bond. Cuevas has a lengthy criminal history dating to 2001, mostly on charges of burglary and fraud. He has previously been arrested in Orange, Pasco, Seminole and Polk counties. Sheriff Al Nienhuis said his deputy was wise not to pursue Cuevas, though situations like this one show how difficult that choice can be. "This suspect fled from law enforcement, mowed down a stop sign, threw a loaded handgun into someone's yard, and continued to travel at a high rate of speed for several minutes, even after the deputy turned off his emergency equipment. The criminal didn't stop until he crashed into a tree. It is obvious that this individual was determined to get away, regardless of whose life he endangered. This is a perfect example of the frustration felt by deputies when deciding whether or not to pursue a fleeing driver," Nienhuis said in an email. "Law enforcement professionals have no good alternative when presented with a fleeing motorist. Whether they chase or not, a tragedy can result."

Tiny Loco Sureño gang member caught with sawed-off shotgun

 

A parolee and known gang member was arrested when officers searched his home and found a loaded sawed-off shotgun hidden under his bed. The 22-year-old was taken into custody Sunday after a routine parole check at his home in the 400 block of West Stanislaus Street turned increasingly suspicious, Assistant Police Chief Rusty Stivers said. Officers knocked on Alfredo Ayala Jr.’s door around 9:30 p.m. and were led inside by his father. When they entered his room, officers found Ayala in the company of two Tiny Loco Sureño gang members. As called for under the conditions of his parole, Ayala is not allowed to associate with other gang members, Stivers said. The officers did an initial search of Ayala’s bedroom and discovered a box of shotgun shells stored in an adjacent bathroom. Stivers said they went back through the room more thoroughly and found the illegally modified shotgun tucked away under Ayala’s bed. Asked why he had it, Ayala said he had no idea it was under there. His two companions also denied any knowledge of the gun, Stivers said. Ayala was arrested on suspicion of having a concealed weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, participating in a criminal street gang and other charges. He was booked into the Kings County Jail with his bail set at $20,000. “In the last two months, this is the third sawed-off shotgun we have seized from the Sureño street gang,” Stivers said. “Little by little, we are taking the illegal weapons off the street from people who should not have them. If anybody sees any good reason why a gang member should have a sawed-off shotgun, I’d sure like to know.” Stivers praised the department’s good working relationship with the Hanford Parole Office, saying 24-hour access to a parole agent has paid “dividends” for the Avenal Police Department.

Kingston Bloods street gang member arrested

 

A Kingston man, who is a member of the Bloods street gang, has been arrested on an active parole violation. Kingston City Police investigated the whereabouts of Cedric Smith-Williams, 30, of 175 Marys Avenue in Kingston and traced him to Rosendale where he was spotted in the area of Route 32 and Main Street on Tuesday. He was charged with felony parole violation and remanded to the Ulster County Jail.

A former Penthouse Pet and swimsuit model accused of running a global crystal meth ring from Hollywood says she jumped bail in Australia

 

A former Penthouse Pet and swimsuit model accused of running a global crystal meth ring from Hollywood says she jumped bail in Australia and hid for a month because she feared for her life, according to an interview she gave Down Under. "I wasn't trying to flee the country at all; I was trying to protect myself from being killed or harmed," she told The Sunday Telegraph while being flown back to Sydney (photo). She jumped $150,000 bail and was captured late Wednesday in what news outlet variously describes as a seedy motel or cheap hotel on Australia's Gold Coast motel. The 37-year-old Australian and former Ed Hardy swimwear model told the paper that she had been in relationships with "numerous underworld figures or whatever you want to call them," and that "maybe they feel threatened by my situation." She added she "will bring (details) to light during the next couple of weeks." Court records show that Farrow, who is also known as Simone Starr (Facebook), legally changed her surname to Lawson in November, The Telegraph  reported separately. Farrow was initially arrested in October 2009 after flying to Australia while U.S. drug agents were raiding her posh "Surfers Paradise" apartment off Sunset Boulevard. Authorities have accused her of packing bags of high-grade "ice" or chemicals to cut the drug in bath salts, then sending them in parcels marked "bath products," "pants" or "small fountain kits." She allegedly used at least 19 aliases with FedEx and UPS to mail the drugs to New South Wales and Victoria. Police call her the brains behind an "ongoing criminal enterprise that involved at least seven people." One suspect committed suicide in a Hollywood motel after being contacted by police. Farrow was named to FHMmagazine's "Sexiest Women In The World" three times. Coincidentally, the once-dominant "bloke-culture magazine that once revelled in a cocksure mix of sex, gags, grog and gadgets" announced the day after Farrow's arrest that it was folding after its May issue, a victim of plunging circulation amid "rapidly rising indifference," the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Shootings kill 5, wound 12, across South, West and North sides of Chicago

Five people were killed and at least 12 other people wounded in shootings Saturday night and Sunday morning across the city.  Three people were shot  -- one of whom later died -- about 1:50 a.m. on the 5300 block of South Loomis Boulevard in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, police said. Two were taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County and one was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. One of the three died, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said. Ages and genders of the three weren't available, police said. Police are questioning two people in that case, police said. Additional information wasn't available early Sunday morning. The evening attacks follow the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old girl and the wounding of four other people in Chicago within an hour Saturday afternoon, and 16 shootings, including the slaying of a 42-year-old man, overnight Friday and early Saturday morning. In other shootings: A 36-year-old man was killed on the 7500 block of South Wolcott Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood about 1:20 a.m., police said. He was at a party on the block, in a back yard, when someone drove by and opened fire, police said. Police said the man, identified as Bert Lindsey of the 7600 block of South Winchester Avenue, didn't have a criminal history. He was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center about 2:15 a.m., a spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said. A 24-year-old man was found dead in a car at the University of Chicago Medical Center about 10:30 p.m., according to authorities. He's believed to have been shot in the back in the 6300 block of South Ellis Avenue in the Woodlawn neighborhood and was driven to the hospital, police said.A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office identified him as Jeremy Anthony and said he lived about a block south from where he was shot. Someone standing in the street shot him while he was sitting on the passenger side of the car's backseat, police said. The car's driver took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. A 22-year-old man was killed in the East Chatham neighborhood Saturday evening. He was identified as Vincent Fitts, of the 4100 block of West Cermak Road, by a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office. Fitts was shot in the head and was dead on the scene about 7:52 p.m. in the 800 block of East 79th Street at Cottage Grove Avenue, authorities said. A 24-year-old man was shot multiple times about 7:04 p.m. in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, police said. The man was standing on the street in the 5900 Block of South Fairfield Avenue when a vehicle pulled up and one of the people inside stepped out, pulled a weaopon and started shooting at him, the man told police. A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office identified him as Adrian Cruz, and said he lived on the same block where he was shot. He was taken to Stroger Hospital and was in critical condition, Zala said. He later died, Alfaro said. A man was shot on the 3300 block of West Evergreen Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood about 4:20 a.m., police said. He's in serious condition, after being shot in the leg and chest, police said. A 17-year-old man was shot in the face and back on the 500 block of East 67th Street in the West Woodlawn neighborhood about 2:15 a.m., police said and is in serious condition at Stroger Hospital. Police said a 22-year-old man was wounded in a drive-by shooting about 1 a.m. in the West Woodlawn neighborhood. He was walking on the 800 block of East 66th Street when someone inside a passing blue sedan opened fire, hitting him in the left shoulder, police said. He was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, police said. A 20-year-old man was shot in the groin about 12:05 a.m. in the 5900 block of South Laflin Street in the Englewood neighborhood while he was sitting on a porch, police said. He told police that he heard shots and felt pain and was taken to Stroger Hospital in stable condition, police said. About a half hour earlier, a 33-year-old man was shot in the back and the leg on the 6300 block of South Richmond Street in the Marquette Park neighborhood, police said. A man approached him and demanded money after pulling out a gun. The 33-year-old ran and the shooter opened fire, police said. The victim shot was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in serious condition, police said. A 28-year-old woman was shot in the face in the Jefferson Park neighborhood just before 10 p.m. Saturday, according to police. Someone fired shots at her when she opened the door to her apartment on the 5000 block of North Mango Avenue, said police, who indicated it might be domestic-related. The woman is in stable condition at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, police said. Three people were shot on the 8300 block of South Homan Avenue in the Ashburn neighborhood about 9:10 p.m., police said. Two 14-year-old girls were shot in the leg and a 20-year-old man was shot in the chest. Chicago Fire Department ambulances took one of the teens to Advocate Christ Medical Center and the other to Holy Cross Hospital, police said. Both are in good condition. The man went to Stroger Hospital, police said, and he's in serious condition. About 7:33 p.m. in the 2900 block of West Congress Parkway in the Lawndale neighborhood, a 37-year-old man was shot in the head and back and was in critical condition on-scene, Zala said. He was later taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious-to-critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department. State Police were handling that investigation because it was on a ramp to the Eisenhower Expressway, and referred all calls to a spokeswoman, who was not immediately available.

Gangster Disciple Darnell Nolley was found guilty for orchestrating a March 28, 2011, shooting in Monroe but recently pleaded guilty to a lot more

 

Darnell Nolley was found guilty for orchestrating a March 28, 2011, shooting in Monroe but recently pleaded guilty to a lot more. Nolley was found guilty March 8 by a jury in Walton County on charges of attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, obstruction and 17 counts of violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. During his sentencing last week, the 24-year-old Covington resident also entered a guilty plea to a case of armed robbery in Newton County and a drug-related arrest. The story begins on March 28, 2011, when Nolley and two other Gangster Disciples broke into a house in Newton County and robbed two juveniles at gunpoint. One of the items taken in the armed robbery was a 9 mm. Two days later, Nolley put together a group of about eight people to travel to Walton County. This group would end up being responsible for a shooting of 32-year-old Monroe resident, who was shot about 4 inches above his ankle after being confronted by a group of males while he was walking along Springer Street. As the suspects attempted to flee, law enforcement caught up with them along Highway 11 south between Monroe and Social Circle after the car turned down a dead end road. Two were arrested and eventually Nolley was named as the ringleader of the operation. It took two more days before U.S. Marshals kicked down the door of a Rockdale County hotel room and arrested Nolley, who was out on bond after being arrested for a series of burglaries in Newton County. The victim was eventually able to identify Nolley as one of his assailants after being on the cover of Bad and Busted for a March 4, 2011, arrest in Social Circle. There Nolley reportedly ran a stop sign while driving on a suspended license and a search of the vehicle found marijuana and prescription pills. All told, the self-admitted member of the Gangster Disciples received 40 years for the shooting in Monroe, life plus five years for the Newton County incident and 15 years for his arrest in Social Circle. The sentences will be served concurrent and Nolley will be eligible for parole in 30 years.

Man fatally stabbed at Herbie Hide's home in Norwich

 More than 100 people are thought to have been at the party at the time of the stabbing. Mr Hide and his family have relocated as investigations continue. Confirming identity A cordon is in place as crime scene investigators examine the site. Officers have spent the night speaking to witnesses, Norfolk police said. A police cordon is in place at Herbie Hide's house Det Supt Julian Gregory, of the joint Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team, said: "We are in the early stages of our investigation and working to establish the sequence of events which led to this man's death. "We are also in the process of confirming the victim's identity and police family liaison officers have been assigned to work with next of kin. "A large number of people are known to have been present at the property at the time and while we continue our efforts to identify and speak to all partygoers, I would urge anyone who left the scene before speaking to police to contact Norfolk Constabulary as soon as possible on 101."

2 arrested in Santa Ana's first gang-related killing of 2012

 

Santa Ana police have arrested two men on suspicion of committing the city’s first gang-related killing of the year, authorities said Wednesday.  Rene Mojarra, 19, and a 16-year-old male juvenile, both from Santa Ana, were taken into custody about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in connection with a fatal shooting a day earlier, said Cmdr. Stephen Colon of the Santa Ana Police Department. Monday’s shooting occurred at an apartment complex in the 200 block of East 15th Street about 6:30 p.m. Authorities said that when officers arrived, they found 20-year-old Carlos Hernandez of Santa Ana with gunshot wounds to his upper body. Hernandez was taken to a hospital where he later died. Colon said Mojarra and the juvenile were both found at their homes and were taken into custody without incident.

Body found in Juárez with tattoos of "Alpine Street" gang

An unidentified man, with tattoos of the "Alpine Street" gang on his abdomen, was found shot to death in Juárez Monday afternoon, Chihuahua Attorney General's officials said. The victim, in his mid 40s, was lying in the middle of the street at Batopilas and Carlos Adame Streets, Anáhuac neighborhood, officials said. He sustained several gun shot wounds to his body, according to forensic experts. Seven .40 caliber bullet casings were recovered from the scene. According to www.policemag.com website, the "Alpine Street Gang" was founded in 1909, in Los Angeles.

Reputed high-level Bloods street gang leader Asmar Bease and a co-defendant went on trial Tuesday on charges of attempting to murder a Paterson man

 

Reputed high-level Bloods street gang leader Asmar Bease and a co-defendant went on trial Tuesday on charges of attempting to murder a Paterson man who the state says confronted Bease for having sex with his wife. Bease and co-defendant Corey Cauthen shot victim Alphonso Gee when Gee came after Bease looking for a fistfight, Passaic County Assistant Prosecutor Jason Statuto told jurors during his opening statement in state Superior Court in Paterson. Gee has said he found his wife, naked from the waist down, in the back seat of a car with Bease in Paterson as they were returning from a late night of drinking in New York City. He removed his wife from the scene, and went looking for Bease at 17th Avenue and East 27th Street. When he got there, Gee was shot multiple times in the neck on Aug. 2, 2008, leaving him a quadriplegic. “He went down to 17th Avenue to confront the man he caught with his wife and to fight him,” Statuto said. “No question about it. He was a hothead. When he got to 17th Avenue, he found what he was looking for.” But Gee underestimated his opponents, the prosecutor said. “Asmar and Corey were going to settle it another way,” Statuto said. “They both had guns.” Defense attorneys, meanwhile, told jurors in their opening statements before state Superior Court Judge Miguel A. de la Carrera that the state’s only eyewitness is the victim — a man who has motive to lie and who told multiple versions of what happened during the investigation. Morristown Attorney Joel Harris, representing Bease, said that Gee initially identified Bease and Cauthen as his attackers. Later, when he testified before a grand jury, he retracted that statement, saying the two were never even at the scene. He later retracted that statement as well, saying they were in fact there and were the shooters. Yet another statement puts the two of them and a woman at the scene, shooting him that night. “Here is a person who has a motive to lie, has the opportunity to lie, and has demonstrated the ability to lie,” said defense attorney Raymond Morasse of West Orange, representing Cauthen. “Do you think that affects his credibility? I think it does.” “He caught his wife having sexual intercourse,” Harris said. “You look at Alphonso Gee and see if he didn’t have a reason to make this up.”

Killer Beez gang boss Josh Masters has stalled his own case for almost four years

Killer Beez gang boss Josh Masters has stalled his own case for almost four years because life must be "more comfortable" in remand, police claim. Masters will appear at the High Court in Auckland later this month, where he has to apply to vacate his guilty plea on drugs and money laundering charges - something he has previously suggested he wants to do - or be sentenced. The gang boss has already been accused of toying with the system for the frequent delays in hearing his case. Masters was arrested along with 42 other members and associates of the Killer Beez and Tribesmen gangs in 2008 after a police crackdown on drug dealing in South Auckland. The police and Crown are now hopeful the case will progress because the 33-year-old is now being represented by experienced lawyer Ron Mansfield - his fourth lawyer.  However, Mansfield was this week non-committal about the case moving forward. ''As to whether we will [progress it], I don't know.'' May marks the fourth anniversary of Masters' arrest and police fear he may be eligible for parole soon after he is sentenced in a case they say is "laughable". A police source said life must be ''more comfortable'' for Masters on remand. The source said Masters' lengthy stay in remand may slash his end sentence as judges often give more weight to time spent there. Police had hoped Masters would get at least 10 years' jail and be forced to serve at least five, meaning he might be eligible for parole in less than a year. In September 2010, more than two years after his arrest and on the first day of his trial, Masters admitted two charges of supplying methamphetamine, one of conspiring to sell it and money laundering.  He had initially faced 17 charges but 13 were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea. Masters then wanted a disputed facts hearing before he was sentenced to argue about the amount of drugs police claim he had dealt. That took place, but before he was due to be sentenced in September 2011, Masters indicated he wanted to change his mind and vacate his guilty plea. At that time Crown prosecutor Bruce Northwood told the court that since Masters' arrest he'd had three lawyers, all of whom he had parted ways with. He had also attempted to defend himself. ''The Crown's view is he is toying with the system... The excuses offered are spurious.'' Northwood said Masters' claims that he wanted to progress the case were ''at best doubtful and at worst dishonest''. The court gave Masters until September 28 last year to make an application to withdraw his plea or secure a lawyer but he turned up, from the cells, alone and carrying a box of papers. A sentencing date was then set for last November, but Masters again had it adjourned. Masters reappeared in court in February, but again the matter was adjourned because Mansfield had only just taken over the case.

Gangster convicted of murdering San Pablo teen who was unintended victim of gunfire

Contra Costa jury convicted an El Sobrante gang member in the death of a San Pablo teen hit by gunfire that was intended for an acquaintance. After a week of deliberations, the jury convicted Jordan Smith, 23, on Monday of second-degree murder, street terrorism and charge enhancements in the April 13, 2007, shooting of 17-year-old Raymond Adams, deputy district attorney Danielle Douglas said. The defense had argued that Smith was driving his girlfriend's car when his passenger shot the victim without warning. Adams' family had moved to San Pablo more than a year before the shooting to get their son away from gangs in North Richmond, Douglas said. On the day of the shooting, a gang member from the former neighborhood ran out of gas near Adams' new house, and summoned the teen to help. Afterward, Adams asked if he could get a ride to North Richmond to see his girlfriend. Adams was getting into the car's back seat at 11th Street and Broadway when Smith fired on the car, Douglas said. Two bullets meant for the driver struck Adams, whose last words were that he didn't want to die. "He was a just a kid trying to hook up with his girlfriend," Douglas said. "His death was especially devastating for his family because they had worked so hard to avoid something like this happening." Police never found the person in the car with Smith that day. Smith's attorney argued that man was the killer, and died in 2009, Advertisement according to Douglas. Smith is facing at least 40 years to life in prison. He returns to Judge Brian Haynes' courtroom April 3 to determine a sentencing date. Reprint Print   Email Font Resize Return to Top   • FAQ: Article commenting how-tos and tips Breaking News State pension board acknowledges lower returns, higher costs Jerry West raves about Monta Ellis-Andrew Bogut trade Oakland selects dispensary teams Contra Costa must fill 44 seats on redevelopment shutdown boards Warriors' Curry out, won't return till '100 percent' Rain-swollen San Lorenzo River threatening Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Parole denied for former Hollister cop convicted in fatal 1987 shooting outside Watsonville bar Oakland A's notebook: Ryan Cook making strong impression with new team Most Viewed (From the last 12 hours) Hicks: 'American Idol' tosses Jermaine Jones Warriors' Joe Lacob on trade: `Fact is, we just hit a home run' Stolen iPad led to huge meth bust in San Jose Hicks: Bear Grylls fired from 'Man Vs. Wild' High speed rail chief: Bullet train won't cost $100 billion 49ers lose free-agent lineman Adam Snyder to Arizona Cardinals Top Classifieds  Rentals   Jobs   Real Estate   Autos    OAKLAND 1 & 2BD'S APTS $1050-$1375  Hayward Villa  LOS GATOS 1BR TRAILER $795  ANTIOCH  1&2 BD Units  1-2BD Unit from Oakland to San Leandro  SNELL/B.H. 3/2  PACIFICA 2+/2 OCEAN FRONT CONDO $2350  All Listings Copyright © 2012 - San Jose Mercury News Place an Ad | About Our Ads | Help/Contact | Site Map | Advertise | Home Delivery | Copyright | Privacy Policy and Terms of Use | About MediaNews Group | RSS | Find San Jose jobs | Ethics Policy | About Bay Area News Group | MediaNews Group - Bay Area News Group       Advertisement Back to Top 11K

Haverhill gang member, drug supplier sentenced

 

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf Wednesday sentenced Curtis Hester, 26, to 7 1/2 years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and Timothy Moynihan, 36, to 12 1/2 years in prison to be followed by nine years of supervised release. Both were sentenced for conspiring to distribute more than 28 grams of cocaine base and distribution of cocaine base. Hester's sentence was due in part to Judge Wolf's finding that Hester had lied at an earlier hearing. Hester previously pleaded guilty to the charges, while Moynihan was convicted by a jury. In September 2010, Hester, Moynihan and several other individuals were arrested after a yearlong investigation by the FBI into drug trafficking and gang violence in Lawrence and Haverhill. Moynihan supplied Hester with crack cocaine, which Hester then provided to an FBI cooperating witness. "In order to improve the quality of life for those who live in neighborhoods hardest hit by violent crime, we will continue to target not only violent gang members, but also those who supply gang members with drugs," said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.

Gang member sentenced to five life terms for aggravated murders

18th Street gang member convicted in five aggravated murders was sentenced Friday to five consecutive life terms, the Los Angeles district attorney's office said. William Vasquez, 31, was ordered to serve life without the possibility of parole plus 156 years by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler. A jury convicted Vasquez of five counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, including use of firearms and actions in furtherance of a criminal street gang. Vasquez was convicted of committing the five murders and other crimes between 2002 and 2005, beginning with the fatal shooting of Culver City gang member Alex Haro at a Los Angeles birthday party. Vasquez killed another rival gang member, Kevin Walton, on Dec. 3, 2003, minutes after shooting another gang foe in the arm, according to district attorney's spokeswoman Shiara Davila-Morales. On March 5, 2005, Vasquez and three accomplices fired 26 rounds at two unarmed men at Santa Monica Moose Lodge, killing Jonathan Hernandez, 19, and Hector Bonilla, 25, Davila-Morales said. The fifth murder for which Vasquez was convicted occurred on Sept. 24, 2005, when he and other gang members drove by a house party and attacked 24-year-old Jesse Becerra. Vasquez jumped out of the car after the victim had been felled by a gunshot and fired numerous shots point-blank into the man's head and body, the statement from the prosecutor's office said.

Gang Leader Planning Jail Break

 

Federal officials are worried that a vicious Bloods street gang leader up on murder charges might be planning a prison break -- if not the killing or intimidation of a witness -- after a cell phone was found in his solitary-confinement cell in a New York City jail. Ronald "Ra Diggs" Herron, a self-styled rapper from Brooklyn who has used Twitter and YouTube to threaten violence against informants and the children of police officers, is being held in a special wing of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan, where a large cadre of ranking Bloods members is incarcerated. Prison officials and US marshals were alarmed by the discovery of the phone in his quarters and fear Herron could have been using it to coordinate plans with other Bloods to stage an escape as he is transported from the Manhattan facility to court appearances in Brooklyn, the sources said. Herron faces a possible death sentence if convicted of a series of murders tied to drug distribution. The security lapse at the facility is even more suspicious, officials say, considering inmates in solitary spend 23 hours a day in their single cells with just one hour out in a solo cage to exercise. Now investigators suspect that Herron has been having a sexual relationship with a female prison guard who may have smuggled in the phone, the sources said. "The government is very concerned about another orchestrated plan by the Murderous Mad Dog Bloods to intimidate witnesses," prosecutor Carter Burwell said in Brooklyn federal court Friday, referring to the street gang headed by Herron Burwell revealed that one of Herron's top lieutenants, Jorge Mejia, tried to scare a witness from testifying in the gang leader's pending murder and drug-trafficking case. The prosecutor also told Judge Nicholas Garaufis that Herron "was in possession of an item" in jail "that could be used to intimidate witnesses" -- referring to the phone. An earlier witness-intimidation campaign occurred when the Brooklyn DA's Office charged Herron in 2002 with the drug-related murder of Frederick Brooks, who was gunned down in June 2001. During the trial, a witness testified she had seen Herron kill Brooks, but two other eyewitnesses declined to take the stand after his Herron's associates threatened to kill them, the feds say, and Herron was acquitted. Last month, Herron was hit with new federal charges for the Brooks killing and two additional murders.

Alleged New Bedford crime boss pleads guilty to tax evasion charges

 

Alleged crime boss Timothy L. Barreira pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to tax evasion charges. Barreira, 49, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the federal government, tax evasion and failure to file taxes when he appeared before U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro. The judge scheduled sentencing for June 6. Barreira faces up to five years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine or twice the tax loss, whichever is greater on conspiracy and tax evasion charges. When Barreira was charged in April of last year, federal prosecutors, in court documents, alleged he is a violent leader of a criminal organization affiliated with members of the Sidewinders motorcycle gangs in New Bedford and Fall River and Hells Angels in Providence. The allegations were denied by Barreira's defense attorney Barry P. Wilson, who called it “a cheap shot” for federal prosecutors to include the information in his client's file and said they are based on hearsay. According to prosecutors, Barreira's organization allegedly purchased numerous properties in Westport and the surrounding area to legitimize activities that include high-level cocaine trafficking, extortion and buying and selling stolen property such as construction equipment, motorcycles and motor vehicle parts. Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said today in a press release that Barreira made $264,000, $287,000 and $485,000, respectively, in taxable income for years 2003 to 2005, but didn't file or pay taxes in those years. Federal officials said in order to evade the assessment and payment of taxes on his income, Barreira and his longtime girlfriend, identified in court documents as Co-conspirator A, used five different methods to conceal his income and assets from the Internal Revenue Service. These included using cash extensively, cashing and negotiating third-party checks, including rent checks, using Co-conspirator A's name, bank accounts or an entity, Norwest Holdings Inc. Federal officials said Co-conspirator A was the nominee and authorized signatory to pay Barreira's personal debts, filing false tax returns for Norwest Holdings, Inc., indicating that entity owned property, when it was actually owned by Barreira. Also, federal officials allege, they failed to file tax returns accurately reporting Barreira's income on all income earned from rental payments from tenants, income from partnerships and capital gains from property sales in which he had an interest.

Gangster's Paradise Rapper Coolio Arrested In Las Vegas, Nevada

Another rapper gets added to the long list of emcees being arrested in Las Vegas, as Coolio was arrested this past weekend in Sin City. The ‘Gangster’s Paradise‘ emcee was stopped on the Las Vegas strip by local police for a routine check, when officers discovered that Coolio had two bench warrants out for his arrest that were the results of multiple traffic violations. The 48 year old, real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr., was only a passenger in the vehicle offers pulled over just a few blocks east of the Las Vegas Strip at around 2:20 AM according to Officer Laura Meltzer. The two warrants out for Coolio were tied to failure to appear on an illegal stop and driving without a license summons issued back in June of 2010. Even more bizarre to the whole story was the fact that Coolio’s 22 year old son was locked up in the same jail for “allegedly busting into a Vegas apartment with a gun and forcing the tenant into the bathroom, while he and a female prostitute named Shantrice Wilkerson ransacked the place.” according to TMZ. Coolio was later released on a $5,850 court bail, and no official court date has been set. 

Girlfriend of notorious Boston gangster James (Whitey) Bulger agrees to plead guilty

Catherine Greig, the girlfriend of notorious Boston gangster James (Whitey) Bulger, has agreed to plead guilty to charges she helped him escape — but she won’t have to rat out her man. The feds nabbed Greig, 60, along with her mobster lover after they had evaded the law together for almost 17 years. A plea agreement filed Monday, first reported by the Boston Globe, stipulates that she won’t have to testify against him. “In early 1995, I agreed to join Bulger and travel with [him] during his flight from law enforcement,” she wrote in the agreement. She could face five years in federal prison on charges of harboring a fugitive, identity theft and conspiracy. Bulger, who went on the lam in 1995 after his FBI handler tipped him off to a pending racketeering indictment, accused of 19 counts of murder and a host of other crimes.

Michel Smith, a Quebec member of the Hells Angels wanted se 2009 in connection to 22 murder cases, has been arrested by authorities in Panama

 

Michel Smith, a Quebec member of the Hells Angels wanted se 2009 in connection to 22 murder cases, has been arrested by authorities in Panama, according to media reports. However, officials from the Surete du Quebec and RCMP were not immediately able to confirm or deny the reports. According to the RCMP, Smith is a member of the South Chapter of the Hells Angels and goes by the nickname "L'animal." He has been on the run since 2009 in connection with a police crackdown on the Hells Angels biker gang. He faces 29 criminal charges - including 22 murder charges. Citing Panamanian local media and Agence France-Presse, the QMI news agency reported that Smith, 49, had been detained by police Friday evening in the Playa Coronado region, on the Pacific Ocean coast of the Central American nation. A Canada-wide warrant issued by the RCMP said he was being sought for murder, gangsterism, drug trafficking and related conspiracy charges. His Central American connections were known to authorities. "Smith is likely to visit Panama and speaks French," the warrant stated. Const. Erique Gasse of the RCMP's C Division in Montreal said he had relayed a request for official word on Smith's status to RCMP officials in Ottawa, who did not immediately return a phone call. Asked for confirmation of the arrest report, Surete du Quebec spokesperson Sgt. Christine Coulombe said: "I have no information on this." Smith is "considered to be violent," according to the warrant. Aside from "L'animal," his aliases have included Mike Smith-Lajoie, Michel Lajoie-Smit and Michel Lajoie. The warrant describes Smith as 172 centimetres tall and weighing 95 kilograms, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Man fatally stabbed outside Near West Side liquor store

 21-year-old man was fatally stabbed late Sunday in what Chicago police suspect may have been an internal gang dispute, authorities said. The stabbing occurred just after 8 p.m. in front of a liquor store in the 200 block of South Western Avenue in the city's Near West Side. Officers responding to a large fight discovered the victim lying on the street with a single stab wound to the chest, police said, citing early reports. The victim, whose identity was withheld pending family notification, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy is scheduled for later today. Police believe that the victim and his attacker may have been members of the area street gang and that the stabbing may have been due to an internal disagreement, according to a police source. Street gangs often police themselves, doling out punishments ranging from beatings to murder when members step out of line with their leadership, the source noted. Police were following leads, though most of the crowd present before and during the fatal attack had fled by the time police arrived, the source said. No arrests had been made as Central Area detectives continued their investigation.

Alleged Quebec Hells Angels member arrested in Panama

 

Quebec fugitive -- and alleged member of the Hells Angels -- who is wanted on murder charges has been arrested in Panama, local media reports say. Michel Smith, 49, who was linked to Quebec's deadly biker war in the 1990s, was reportedly arrested Friday. Smith -- whose nickname is "animal" -- has been on the run since 2009. He was taken into custody by local police in the tourist area of Playa Coronado on the Pacific Ocean coast, according to local reports. The reports said he had been under surveillance for about two months before his arrest. Smith faces 29 charges, including 22 counts of murder. Police in Canada had not confirmed the news as late Sunday night. Smith is to be extradited back to Canada, police officials in Panama said in a news release. Smith has long been alleged to be among the top men affiliated with the Hells Angels when it was at war with the Rock Machine biker gang in the 1990s and early 2000s. The gang war killed more than 150 people. While most of the victims were members of the rival gangs and their affiliates, two prison guards and an 11-year old boy -- a bystander -- also died. An RCMP warrant describes Smith as 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 210 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Killing of 4 youths horrifies central Mexico city

 

The slayings of four youths whose bodies were cut to pieces and left in plastic bags has horrified the central Mexico city of Cuernavaca, calling up memories of a similar crime a year ago that spurred the creation of a national crime victims' movement. Prosecutors in Morelos state said the victims, ranging in age from 14 to 21, were found Thursday in plastic bags on a Cuernavaca street along with a threatening note from a drug gang. Photos from the scene showed a handless arm lying near the handwritten note. The youths had apparently been strangled or asphyxiated before being dismembered, according to the prosecutors' statement. Prosecutors said the four were students at local schools, though the mother of the youngest victim, 14-year-old Brandon Contreras Gutierrez, said the boy had left home 1½ weeks before "and had been hanging out with others, driving around on minibikes" in one of the city's rougher neighborhoods. It was not clear if he had any relationship with gang members who frequently use mini-motorcycles to distribute drugs or transport gunmen. Morelos state Interior Secretary Oscar Hernandez Benitez said in a statement that he had ordered stepped-up patrols in the city following the killings and he called on the public "to form a united front against violence, for peace and tranquility in our state." Local media said two high schools in the victims' neighborhood were briefly closed and evacuated after the bodies were found. The education department did not respond to requests to confirm that. Cuernavaca, nicknamed "The City of Eternal Spring," was once known mainly as a balmy resort area for tourists and as a weekend retreat for wealthy residents of Mexico City, just 40 miles (65 kilometers) away. However, it has become the scene of drug cartel turf battles in recent years, and the city was shocked when the son of poet Javier Sicilia and six friends were found dead, their bodies stuffed into a car on March 28, 2011. A half dozen alleged drug gang members have been indicted in connection with those killings and are facing trial. Sicilia went on to found a nationwide movement advocating an end to Mexico's drug violence, which saw at least 47,515 people killed between December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drug cartels, through September 2011, the latest figures made available by the government. Thousands more are thought to have disappeared. On Friday, Sicilia said the new slayings prove that little or nothing has changed in the year since his son died and that the government continues to fail to prevent or investigate such crimes. "Unfortunately, we are seeing the same story over and over again," said Sicilia, "These crimes in Morelos, along with the crimes throughout the nation, are proof of the government's lack of effectiveness and its distance from the people." "The clearest proof of that is that we continue to have 98 percent of crimes that go unpunished." To address such concerns, Calderon unveiled the headquarters of what his government calls its "scientific police division," a wing of the federal police that will use specialized forensics and crime-scene techniques to boost investigations that in the past have been marked by clumsiness and poorly preserved evidence. Calderon acknowledged the weaknesses of the past, saying police were "not very professional and in many cases incapable of fulfilling their primary mission of ensuring citizens' safety and, in some cases, they even allied themselves with criminals." The new, 700-million-peso ($55 million) facility will have DNA, ballistics and fingerprint labs as well as a cyber-crime unit. Calderon said that Mexico has made progress in detaining top drug traffickers, but that street-level violence between lower-ranking gang members hcontinues. This week's killings in Cuernavaca bore the hallmarks of gang-on-gang violence, as do many of the killings in Cuernavaca, where victims' bodies have been hung from overpasses and left with hand-lettered signs. In Guadalajara, officials said drug criminals set 25 city buses and other vehicles on fire in 16 different places, spreading fear Friday afternoon throughout Mexico's second-largest city. The burning road blockades came after an army operation in a Guadalajara suburb that the military later said resulted in the capture of the leader of the New Generation drug gang, which is believed allied with Mexico's most wanted drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. The army said its soldiers came under fire while arresting Erick Valencia Salazar, the presumed leader of New Generation, and a lieutenant whose name was not released. Guadalajara has become a new front in the war between the country's two main drug cartels, Guzman's Sinaloa gang and the Zetas. In November the bodies of 26 young men were found stuffed in two vans and a pickup truck abandoned on an expressway in the city, an attack officials have attributed to the Zetas.

One of Roselle shooting victims was involved with Crips gang; search continues for gunman

The hunt is still on for a lone gunman who shot four unarmed men in front of a house Thursday night, then escaped on foot in a quiet Roselle neighborhood, authorities said today. Two died and two were shot in the legs, which authorities are calling a "targeted" shooting — and one of the dead men was a Crips gang member, said Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow. The shots were fired just after 10 p.m. in front of the house on Walnut Street, after the gunman emerged from a dark yard across the street, authorities say. The shooter killed two 24-year-old men: Breyon Williams, a man identified as the Crip member, was shot once behind the ear and died in the yard; and Anthony Howard, who lived at the Walnut Street house, was shot in the back and later died at University Hospital, authorities said. Two victims, an 18-year-old from Roselle and a 25-year-old Newarker, survived. All four victims were unarmed when they were shot, Romankow said. A possible link to a homicide at a BP gas station in Elizabeth on Wednesday is being investigated, Romankow said. He said possible gang connections of the three victims are also being probed. "This is not a random spree. This was an isolated and targeted event," Roselle Mayor Jamel Holley said this morning. "The individual will be brought to justice. I promise." Romankow said authorities are investigating the shooting's connection to local street gangs. Williams was involved with the Crips gang, the prosecutor said, according to records from the state Department of Corrections. There may be 100 or so people in Union County affiliated with the Crips, Romankow said. "There are Crips throughout this county. It's not just Roselle," he said. Family and friends of Howard at the house this afternoon mourned the killings. Beverly Howard, one victim’s mother, said she didn’t know any specifics about how — or why — her son was killed. "We’re just trying to piece it together, like everyone else," she said. "It’s two families that’s lost," added Eric Drake, who said he was a cousin of Howard. Anti-violence activists are planning a demonstration Saturday at the intersection near the crime scene. Several have said that the violence between Union County cities crosses municipal borders — and is continuing to escalate. "The summer’s about to start. And as we know, when it warms up, things start happening," said Donald Givens, of the National United Youth Council’s Roselle chapter. The two deaths Thursday bring the total to seven homicides in Union County this year.

2 men arrested in gang sweep sentenced to 20 years

 

Two Northern California men arrested last fall during a sweep of suspected gang members have been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors say 37-year-old Miguel Gonzalez and 31-year-old Adrian Gamino were both sentenced by a federal judge in San Jose Wednesday after pleading guilty in December to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag says Gonzalez, who is from Salinas, and Gamino from Morgan Hill, were the first of two defendants to be sentenced after more than 100 suspected gang members were arrested in a series of raids in Alameda, Santa Clara, San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. The arrests came after a seven-month undercover investigation dubbed "Garlic Press" where federal and local moved to crack down on violent gangs. During the raids, authorities say the seized more than 50 guns and methamphetamine with a street value of more than $100,000.