Hells Angels' president killed in Sparks shooting

 

Police confirm the president of the San Jose chapter of the Hell's Angels, Jeffrey Pettigrew died while two Vagos club members are being treated for their injuries. Sparks Police say a group of members from the Hell's Angels and Vagos motorcycle clubs got into a fight near the Trader Dick's bar late Friday night. Police have made no arrests for the murder or shootings of the other victims.

Gang violence at Sparks Nugget Hotel results in shooting of Sacramento biker

 

More details are becoming available in shooting death in Sparks, Nevada involving the Hells Angels and a rival motorcycle gang. The shooting late Friday night at the John Asguaga's Nugget Hotel resulted in the death of a Hells Angel leader from San Jose and injuries to 2 rival Vagos gang members. The gang members were among thousands of attendees at the annual Sparks "street vibrations" event. Concern about retaliation led local and state officials to declare a to a state of emergency, which was eventually lifted around 5 p.m. on Saturday. A Sacramento gang detective investigating the case in Nevada said one of the gang members shot at in retaliation is from Sacramento. That gang member was shot twice in the chest Saturday morning. He was expected to survive. In response to concerns about retaliation, a Sacramento ATF agent said, "We always try to be aware of crimes of violence in our community. We try to anticipate when and where there will be violations of the federal firearm and explosive laws. We are watching this very closely," said Graham Barlowe, ATF Sacramento's Resident Agent in Charge.

Dunedin gang members arrested following clash

 

Armed police have been guarding a residential street in Dunedin overnight after a clash between rival gangs involving baseball bats and guns. Police arrived at the known gang address on Allenby Ave in Pine Hill just after 4pm yesterday after dozens of calls from worried residents. Half an hour later, a gang member was discovered at Dunedin hospital with a gun shot wound to the arm. Ten gang members were taken into custody - five Mongrel Mob members, five Black Power.

Hells Angels and Vagos Motorcycle Gangs Go to War in Nevada Casino

The Hells Angels motorcycle gang is minus one California leader after a wild shootout in a Nevada casino. The Vagos motorcycle gang survived the fight with two members wounded. The violent fight caused the city's Mayor to temporarily declare a state of emergency and stop a biker festival. It wasn't long before a drive-by shooting wounded another biker in retaliation.

Friday night at John Ascuaga's Nugget Hotel and Casino in Sparks, Nevada, was the scene of the bloody altercation between the two gangs. Eyewitnesses say a Hells Angels member fired the first shot and a surveillance video clearly shows a biker shooting wildly into the casino crowd. Police have charged Hells Angel, Cesar Villagrana, with assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a stolen firearm after seeing the video.

According to one witness, the shooting started when one Hells Angel was punched in the nose. He went on to say the biker jumped up with the bloody nose and pulled a gun and fired. The scene must have been horrific and must have scared the casino's patrons into taking cover. When bikers start fight, it's time to take cover.

Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew, age 51, was the member of the Hells Angels killed at the casino. He was the leader of the San Jose, California, branch of the gang. The two wounded bikers were listed as 45-year-old Leonard Ramirez and 28-year-old Diego Garcia, both members of the Vagos. It's a miracle more people weren't killed or wounded. It is a good thing these guys are not better shots.

The casino fight broke out about 11:30 Friday night and by 10:49 the next morning another biker had been shot on the streets of Sparks. The town was hosting a biker festival called "Street Vibrations" where the shooting occurred. A biker was shot in the stomach by someone riding in a black BMW. Reno Police Department Lt. Amy Newman has commented that the second shooting was "definitely" revenge. Could the Hells Angels be in a continuing war with the Vagos? Only time will tell.

 

 

Police keep close watch on Ballarat as bikies visit

 

POLICE hit Ballarat’s streets in force on Saturday night for a high-visibility public order operation, coinciding with a visit from the Finks Outlaw Motorcycle Club. While Victoria Police would not confirm the gathering was a prelude to any increased bikie presence in Ballarat, they said they would continue to maintain increased vigilance over any potential illegal activities. As part of the operation, a Victoria Police marked camera van was parked for extended periods in the northbound lane of Doveton Street, with a clear view down Grainery Lane. Men wearing colours and insignia representing the Finks Motorcycle Club and its supporter groups were seen coming and going from a red-brick building in Grainery Lane during the day and into the night. Several men bearing the club’s insignia also stood at the entrance to Grainery Lane for much of the night. Ballarat police divisional superintendent Andrew Allen said there was no confirmation the Finks were establishing a chapter in Ballarat. He also said it was the “first time there’s been any activity from them” in the area. “I can confirm that a number of people who we believe to be part of the Finks Outlaw Motorcycle Club were visiting a location in Ballarat on Saturday night,” he said. “We believe they’re from a Melbourne chapter.” Superintendent Allen said police were aware of the visit well in advance and involved the state’s bikie-gang taskforce to assist with the high-visibility police operation. “We received some intelligence that suggested members of the Finks might be going to visit Ballarat, so we involved Taskforce Echo,” he said. “The use of the marked police camera van was to prevent and detect offences and it has been quite successful in the past.”

Hells Angels chapter president died in a casino shootout with a rival biker gang.

 

The city of Sparks, Nev., declared a state of emergency Saturday after a Hells Angels chapter president died in a casino shootout with a rival biker gang. Mayor Geno Martini also canceled the Street Vibrations biker festival that was under way in the city, which is located adjacent to Reno where an annual air show was canceled when a plane crashed into the grandstand earlier this month. The announcement came after the man killed in the Friday night shooting at John Ascuaga's Nugget casino was identified as Jeffrey Pettigrew, president of the San Jose, Calif., chapter of the Hells Angels. The gunfire also left two members of the rival Vagos in stable condition at an area hospital and landed another Hells Angel in jail on a charge assault with a deadly weapon. Police said in a written statement that another biker, who was not identified, was shot at a traffic light at 10:40 a.m. Saturday by a gunman driving a BMW sedan. Although the two incidents could not be definitively linked, the city decided it was time to clamp down in the situation. Along with the cancellation of the biker festival, police beefed up patrols in the downtown area.

David Glasser would-be witness against a Hells Angel with a violent reputation had turned into a nervous wreck

 

Friends say he lived in fear. In the months before his murder, those closest to David Glasser say the would-be witness against a Hells Angel with a violent reputation had turned into a nervous wreck. "He was getting really scattered and frantic the past couple of weeks. He couldn't even sit down -- he'd pace. You could see the fear written across his face," said Rick Reynolds, Glasser's longtime friend. "He was openly, admittedly terrified." Friends and acquaintances of Glasser's say prosecutors ignored his pleas for protection as a witness, even as he was poised to testify against a man who allegedly had threatened to kill him for cooperating with police. Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless said his office took steps to ensure Glasser's safety. Capeless described a man who said he felt safe in his apartment, preferring to stay in his Pittsfield home rather than relocate at the suggestion of police. In either case, Glasser had reason to be afraid. According to court records, Adam Lee Hall, a member of the Berkshire County chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, already had beaten Glasser with a baseball bat -- and that was just when Hall thought Glasser had stolen a carburetor from him. After that 2009 incident, authorities Advertisement persuaded Glasser to become a witness against Hall on drug, gun and assault charges. That prompted more threats from Hall, who later was accused by police of setting Glasser up to take the fall for a bogus armed robbery in an effort to keep him from testifying. Fifteen days ago, Glasser's body was found along with two of his friends, buried in a boulder-covered trench on private property in Becket. The friends -- fellow Pittsfield residents Edward S. Frampton and Robert T. Chadwell -- were killed because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to authorities. The discovery of the bodies came just nine days before Glasser had been scheduled to testify Sept. 19 against Hall in Berkshire Superior Court in connection with the assault and framing incidents. The discovery of the bodies came just nine days before Glasser had been scheduled to testify Sept. 19 against Hall in Berkshire Superior Court in connection with the assault and framing incidents. Police since have arrested Hall -- a 34-year-old Peru resident -- and two alleged accomplices. The three have been charged with three counts of murder, witness intimidation and kidnapping, and a fourth suspect has been charged with helping to bury the bodies. Glasser's murder has sparked an outcry from the victims' families, who say the District Attorney's Office and police didn't do enough to protect their witness. "They never did anything to help David," said Donna Randolph, whom Glasser called "Mom" and talked with at least once a week. Glasser was estranged from his family at a young age, according to Randolph, and no one in the family could be located for comment by The Eagle. However, Randolph and others close to Glasser said he had complained to them that he had gone to authorities and asked for witness protection as recently as a month before his murder. "He came to my house right after he'd been to the police one of those times," said Randolph, 67, of Pittsfield. Randolph said Glasser, 44, had been told by officers that nothing could be done and to let police know if anything happened. The Pittsfield Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police referred questions to the Berkshire County district attorney. Capeless said he's never denied a "reasonable request for protection of a witness." He insists his office did everything it could to protect Glasser, including relocating him twice at its suggestion. Capeless said that after each of the two relocations -- which were intended to be temporary -- Glasser had opted to return home, saying he felt safe. "On each occasion he said, ‘Look, I feel OK now and I'd like to go back to my apartment,' " Capeless said. "Ultimately it is his decision. We can't make witnesses relocate." Capeless said it's normal for witnesses to want to stay in their homes. "They want to control their lives." Capeless said. But Glasser's friends say he only stayed in his apartment because he had nowhere else to go. "He wasn't there because he wanted to be," Randolph said. The state has a witness protection fund, which pays for lodging, living and transportation expenses. District attorneys can submit petitions to fund the relocation of a key witness. Capeless said his office never submitted such a petition. Capeless declined to go into detail about his office's two temporary relocations of Glasser. Capeless wouldn't say when they took place, where Glasser was relocated to, or how long he stayed. Capeless said that speaking more about steps his office took to protect Glasser could compromise the safety of other witnesses against Hall who have opted to relocate. But no one who knew Glasser said they had heard anything about his being relocated by the District Attorney's Office. Asked about that, Capeless said: "People aren't supposed to know about it. That's the point." But Glasser's friends say they don't believe Capeless. "It's not true," Randolph said. "They never, never relocated David. They never did anything to help David. He would have let me know. He was like my son. We were very close. He would have told my husband and me one way or another." Likewise, Glasser's friend Rick Reynolds -- along with three other friends contacted by The Eagle who asked not to be identified -- said Glasser hadn't been relocated and never got the help he was asking for. The Eagle got some insight into Glasser's psyche in 2005. In an eloquently worded letter to the editor published that year, Glasser said in the first sentence that he was "mentally and physically challenged." He went on to write that he had diabetes, which "sometimes mimics being drunk," and that he had been "wrongfully fired" from jobs and treated unfairly in other instances because of people's "misunderstanding" of the issue. Glasser's main point in the letter was that he wanted to bring "an awareness of how we treat each other." He made no other reference to his mental condition in the letter. Capeless said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on Glasser's mental capacity. Randolph said she wasn't clear about the nature of Glasser's challenges, but said he "functioned a little bit slowly." Glasser did, however, understand the danger he was in, Randolph said. "Oh, he understood," she said. "He was absolutely terrified. There's no other way to put it." The terror that filled Glasser's life is well documented. According to court records, during the 2009 baseball-bat incident, Hall beat Glasser over a missing carburetor -- leaving his face black, blue and swollen -- and forced him to sign the title of his truck over to Hall. Then, according to the records, Hall made Glasser drive himself to Berkshire Medical Center in Hall's Hummer with Hall in the passenger seat. Before Glasser got out of the car, Hall told him that if he went to the police, he would be killed, according to a transcript of an interview police conducted with Glasser. Trooper Dale Gero responded to the emergency room at BMC after the staff reported a suspected assault and battery. After being treated at BMC, Glasser was taken to the Cheshire State Police barracks for an interview, in which he recounted the incident. According to Gero's report, at the end of the interview, Glasser asked if the state police had a witness protection program, and he told the trooper he was afraid of Hall retaliating against him. After being treated at BMC, Glasser was taken to the Cheshire State Police barracks for an interview, in which he recounted the incident. According to Gero's report, at the end of the interview, Glasser asked if the state police had a witness protection program, and he told the trooper he was afraid of Hall retaliating against him. According to the report, Glasser was escorted out of the barracks and told to contact "the police if anything further happened." Two days later, Glasser came in for a follow-up interview with investigators. Just before that interview, Glasser again told police he believed Hall would kill him, according to police records. Hall was arrested that day and was released three months later on a $50,000 bond. Glasser, meanwhile, was living in the Linden Street apartment he shared with Frampton. Glasser's name doesn't appear in court records again until Hall allegedly framed Glasser for armed robbery in New York state on Aug. 14, 2010. According to police, Hall and his associates planted a gun and other evidence in Glasser's truck in an effort to connect him to the supposed robbery. Pittsfield lawyer Alexander Schmulsky was appointed to defend Glasser against the charges. They met in a jail cell in the basement of Central Berkshire District Court. "He was concerned for his safety," Schmulsky said. "He was scared." A few days later, Schmulsky got a call from the District Attorney's Office saying the charges had been dropped. Schmulsky said Glasser was in the hands of the DA's office after that and that he never heard from his client again. Meanwhile, Hall was re-arrested. He was released on bail in March of this year, on a $250,000 bond. Even though Hall had been released pending his trial, Capeless said Glasser had stopped feeling unsafe when he started working with police as a witness, adding that law enforcement had been in "regular" contact with him. Capeless declined to be more specific about the nature of the contact, but said that each time officers checked in with Glasser, Glasser told them he was fine. "After Glasser became further involved with this office, he did not express that he felt unsafe," Capeless said. "Anytime he was staying in his apartment, he remained there because he felt safe and he wanted to be in his home." Friends strongly disagree with the district attorney's assessment of Glasser's feelings. They say Glasser -- known to mind his own business -- was manipulated into testifying against Hall. "He didn't want to testify," Reynolds said. "He said he was being pressured. I think they [DA's office] used that he was angry about being jumped, being beaten, having his truck taken [to get him to testify]. It hurt his pride. I think the police used that to say, ‘Do something about it.' " Reynolds said Glasser also believed he might be charged with possession of cocaine if he didn't testify, a notion Capeless strongly disagrees with. "He felt like he was in a no-win situation," Reynolds said. Capeless denies that Glasser was pressured into doing anything he didn't want to do. He said Glasser understood that by testifying against Hall, he would be protecting himself and others, effectively ensuring that Hall would go to prison. "People have to understand that if they don't come forward, these kinds of people will be walking the street," Capeless said. Still, Glasser's former lawyer said Capeless' job is about more than just putting people behind bars. "The district attorney's only job isn't to win the trial, it's to provide justice for the people of Berkshire County," Schmulsky said. "Where's the justice for Mr. Glasser today?" Capeless said his office did the best it could with the information it had at the time. He said it's easy to second guess after the fact. Randolph, meanwhile, said her last visit with Glasser is burned in her memory. "I didn't see him but for a couple of minutes the last time," she said. "He hugged me and I hugged him, and he said, ‘I love you, Ma,' and I told him I loved him. I miss him. Every day."

Hell's Angels motorcycle club member facing charges in deadly casino brawl

 

member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle club was facing charges including assault with a deadly weapon Sunday after a brawl between club members devolved into a gunfight that left one person dead. Police identified the victim of the shooting at John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada, as Jeffrey Pettigrew, 51, president of the San Jose, California, chapter of the Hell's Angels. Two other people, both of California and members of the Vagos motorcycle club, were in stable condition at hospitals after being shot in the abdomen and the leg, respectively. Cesar Villagrana, 36, was arrested after surveillance video showed him "shooting into the crowd" during the Friday night melee, Sparks police said in a statement. "However, it cannot be confirmed at this time if any of the projectiles struck the victims." Besides assault with a deadly weapon, Villagrana also faces charges of carrying a concealed weapon; aiming a firearm at another; aiming or discharging a firearm where a person is endangered; and possession of stolen property/firearm, jail records show. His bail was set at $500,000 cash only. Authorities appealed to bystanders who may have photographed or videotaped the event to contact police. A second shooting occurred at 10:49 a.m. Saturday, police said. A motorcyclist was traveling down a street when a car pulled alongside him and he was shot in the stomach. The name of that victim was being withheld, but he was in stable condition, authorities said. Witnesses said a black four-door BMW with two people inside was seen speeding away just after the shooting. "We are unable to definitively link the two shooting incidents at this time," police said. The incidents occurred during the Street Vibrations Fall Rally, an event that began Wednesday and was expected to continue into Sunday. After the shootings, however, the Sparks portion of the event were canceled through the weekend, the city announced Saturday. The mayor of Sparks also declared a state of emergency. "Whenever you have people who enter our city with bad intentions, bad things are going to happen," Sparks Mayor Geno Martini said Saturday. Police said they have increased the number of foot and mobile patrols in the city. Authorities reported that as many as 30 people took part in the casino brawl. Police responded with assistance from overhead helicopters. There has been no violence since the Street Vibrations rally expanded into Sparks, police said. "The Sparks Police Department wants to acknowledge the acts of these two motorcycle clubs do not represent a majority of the motorcycle enthusiasts that come to the Street Vibrations event," authorities said in a statement.

Hawi trial nears end

 

THE four-month trial of former bikie leader Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi, who is charged with murdering a man at Sydney Airport in 2009, entered its closing phase on Wednesday. Mr Justice Robert Allan Hulme began summing up the case to the jury in Sydney West Trial Courts, Parramatta. Hawi, 31, of Bexley, once one of the heads of this area's Comanchero Motorcycle Club, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Anthony Zervas, whose brother was a Hells Angels member. Justice Hulme was expected to continue his summation of the case until Friday, after which the jury will retire to consider its verdict. Five other Comanchero members or associates are also standing trial co-accused of the same murder. During the trial, medical experts gave evidence that bollards, a pair of scissors and a knife found in a drain might have played a part in the death of Mr Zervas. The court heard the injuries he suffered included internal bleeding, stab wounds and a fractured skull and that his head might have been stomped on or hit by a bollard. Justice Hulme said most of the available closed-circuit video footage of the attack was "average" and "quite poor". The jury should not draw any inference from the fact that a particular camera was not working during crucial moments, he said. Justice Hulme said part of the Crown case was that the Comancheros intended to inflict grievous bodily harm on Mr Zervas, who was one of five Hells Angels or associates at the airport. The jury had to decide if there was a joint criminal enterprise. The trial continues. Hire-car driver was drunk A CRONULLA father-of-six who pleaded guilty to a mid-range drink-driving offence allegedly told police who pulled him over for a random breath-test he knew he had had too much to drink. Graeme John Purcell, 58, of Cronulla, was stopped by police in August after attending Cronulla Bowling Club with his wife. His solicitor said the couple had four children still at home and his client relied on the success of a Cronulla car hire business to get "the whole family out of a financial quagmire".

Police step up watch on Hells Angels

 

Police in Massachusetts are closely watching a local chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club as one of its high-ranking members sits in jail accused of triple murder. Adam Lee Hall, who court records list as the third in command of the Berkshire Hells Angels, has been charged with three counts of murder in connection with the Aug. 28 deaths of David Glasser, Edward Frampton and Robert Chadwell. Hall, 34, of Peru, Mass.; David Chalue, 44, of North Adams and Springfield, Mass.; and Caius Veiovis, 31, of Pittsfield, Mass., formerly of Augusta, each face three counts each of murder, kidnapping and witness intimidation in connection with the triple slaying. Police haven't linked the homicides to the biker club. But over the weekend they stepped up surveillance of its clubhouse in Lee, Mass., using a "high visibility patrol operation" Saturday that coincided with the Berkshire Hells Angels' annual Lobster Fest. Police from the central Massachusetts towns of Lee, Great Barrington, Pittsfield, Lenox and Dalton assisted Massachusetts State Police as motorcyclists from across the region descended on the biker club's headquarters Saturday near October Mountain State Forest in Lee. Also on the scene were the state's environmental police and a county special response team. Police took pictures of everyone entering and exiting Woodland Road leading to the Angels' clubhouse. Many of the bikers seen in the area wore patches identifying themselves as members of the Hells Angels and other regional motorcycle clubs. Massachusetts State Police Lt. David Buell, commander of the troop's Lee barracks, said police have monitored the club's Lobster Fest event the past five years. He cited an increase in the number of police patrols this year in light of the recent homicides but declined to say how many officers were in the area. Buell reported no arrests or incidents Saturday. Several neighbors walked up to police in the area, he said, and thanked them for being there. The Berkshire Hells Angels Facebook page indicated that tickets to the Lobster Fest were $30. It warned visitors to expect heavy police presence. Meanwhile, the Berkshire District Attorney's office disclosed that the bodies of Glasser, Frampton and Chadwell were found buried on private property in Becket, Mass. Authorities declined to be more specific; they previously had refused to discuss any information about where the bodies of the three men were dumped. Glasser, Frampton and Chadwell went missing sometime between Aug. 27 and 28 from Glasser's apartment on Linden Street in Pittsfield. Police say the men killed Glasser to keep him from testifying against Hall during an upcoming trial in Berkshire Superior Court. Police said neither Chalue nor Veiovis -- formerly known in Maine as Roy Gutfinski Jr. -- are members of the Hells Angels. Court records filed last week said the men's bodies had been dumped together in a deep trench that had been covered with large boulders and dirt, with digging equipment found nearby. According to the report, Hall had inquired about the availability and location of excavation equipment in the weeks prior to the homicides. Gutfinski had been convicted in 2000 of elevated aggravated assault in Kennebec County Suprior Court, and served 71/2 years of the 10-year sentence. He changed his name to Caius Domitius Veiovis in 2008. Veiovis, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, faces the possibility of three life sentences without parole.

Judge denies Hells Angel's request for furlough

 

federal judge today refused to allow Hells Angels sergeant-at-arms Ricky W. Jenks out of jail so he can help with his girlfriend’s pregnancy. U.S. District Court Judge Justin Quackenbush ripped Jenks during the hearing, saying Jenks hadn’t “earned” much consideration from him. “His record is not one that generates a great deal of sympathy,” Quackenbush said of Jenks. “But here he is escaping another major, major multiyear sentence.” Jenks, 33, was arrested following a March 3 raid at the motorcycle gang’s clubhouse, 1308 E. Sprague Ave., and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Jenks previously pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in connection to the 2001 killing of a Spokane Valley man who was making methamphetamine. Federal prosecutors and defense attorney Tracy Collins have worked out a plea agreement that includes a joint-recommendation for two years in federal prison. Quackenbush earlier had questioned the deal, noting that Jenks faced substantially more time in prison if the case had gone to trial. Collins said Quackenbush has indicated he will honor the deal during sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 7. “We were hoping for the release for the stress it would relieve for Brittany’s pregnancy,” Collins said of Jenks’ girlfriend and mother of his 2-year-old child. Jenks also has a 5-year-old child with another woman. Jenks’ girlfriend and family members declined comment. Quackenbush said some judges might agree to the release if Jenks, himself, was seeking a medical procedure. “It’s not that I think Mr. Jenks is a risk of flight. To his credit, and he needs some credit, he is not one to flee,” the judge said. “But, he commits those crimes.” Shortly after his release on the manslaughter conviction, Jenks was indicted as part of a 2006 federal racketeering charge that led to the conviction of chapter president Richard “Smilin’ Rick” Fabel. As part of that case, Jenks later pleaded guilty to interference with commerce by threats or violence and was sentenced to 16 months in prison with credit for time served in jail awaiting trial. “With this record now, if he is again before a court on a felony or violation of release conditions, Mr. Ricky Jenks needs to be locked up for all or a substantial portion of his life just to protect society,” Quackenbush said. “It’s those children Mr. Jenks should think about when he has, and he will with his record and associates, the opportunity to violate the law.”

Drug trafficker may be making a run for it

 

West Vancouver man with ties to several criminal gangs vanished Sept. 5, only two days before he was due to be sentenced for a drug trafficking conviction. Police say Omid Bayani, 36, appeared to be headed to one of the North Shore gyms he frequented when he left his home that afternoon, but hasn't been seen since. A senior figure in the UN Gang, Bayani arranged to sell 600 litres of the date rape drug GHB to a Hells Angels chapter in Toronto in 2007. But the operation was infiltrated by the Ontario Provincial Police and Bayani was convicted of trafficking. The Crown was asking for a sentence of eight to nine years in prison, and Bayani was supposed to be in court to learn his fate Sept. 7. Bayani was convicted of a series of armed robberies in Alberta in the 1990s and has also faced a variety of drugs, weapons and assault charges in B.C. over the past decade. According to the West Vancouver police, Bayani is Middle Eastern, six feet tall and weighs 240 pounds. He has short, black hair, brown eyes and a goatee, but no moustache. He was last seen wearing a grey-and-white Under Armour shirt, blue Under Armour shorts and running shoes

Hells Angels boss faces charges over vicious dog attacks

Investigators are deciding what charges to bring against Hannover’s Hells Angels boss, after his two German Shepherds brutally attacked a number of people.

In the worst-case scenario, Frank Hanebuth could face charges of grievous bodily harm. It is still not clear how the two dogs got out of his heavily guarded property. “The question of whether this was a deliberate act still remains,” officials said on Saturday. 

The aggressive dogs had been running lose in the district of Wedemark, north of Hannover, on Thursday evening. They bit five people, causing serious injuries to two of them. 

In a newspaper interview Hanebuth apologized publically to those who had been attacked.

“It was a terrible accident. I hugely regret what happened to the victims,” Hanebuth told the Neue Presse. “It is absolutely clear that I will use all the means at my disposal to take responsibility for the incident.” The 46-year-old owner had himself gone to the police on Friday.

According to the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, Hanebuth’s lawyer expects his client to only be charged with bodily injury caused by negligence. However, there is also the prospect that he could face the more serious charge of grievous bodily harm.

Hanebuth said he was “horrified and shocked” by what had happened. The dogs had been trained and had never attacked anyone before. “They weren’t beasts,” he said.

Former Mongol gang leader sentenced in LA

 

The former national leader of the Mongols motorcycle gang has been sentenced in a case that accused members of murder, drug trafficking and violent attacks. Ruben Cavazos pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy in January 2009. The results from his sentencing hearing held Thursday were sealed, according to an online docket. Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined comment Friday. A message left for deputy federal public defender John Littrell was not immediately returned. Prosecutors say Cavazos ordered members to engage in murders, extortion and drug trafficking. They say he was responsible for brokering a deal with the Mexican Mafia over the collection of drug payments in areas controlled by that gang. Most of the 79 members indicted have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges.

Police fear turf wars as motorcycle gangs expand operations

 

Motorcycle gangs, who are considered by Finnish police to constitute organised crime groups, have significantly expanded their operations in the past decade.       The gangs have spread so extensively throughout Finland that police fear that violent conflict might break out among them.       Motorcycle gangs have set up clubhouses especially in the Helsinki region and in the south of Finland, but activities have branched out to other parts of the country as well.       “Organised crime groups use the same methods as players in normal business. If there is a market somewhere, a section is set up there to secure their operations”, says Jussi Oksanen of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).       Police say that the three most infamous organisations, the Hell’s Angels, the Bandidos, and Cannonball have more than 40 subsections around Finland.       Police calculate that there are a total of 80 organised crime groups in Finland, including the subsections.       However, most of the groups using different names are not motorcycle gangs. There are nearly 1,200 members in the various groups. The newest, called the United Brotherhood, was formed out of three others, and has more than 50 members.       In recent years the gangs have avoided clashes, lest their main criminal activities suffer. Most recently Finland experienced a bloody gang war in the 1990s.       “There have been various clashes suggesting a resurgence of tension. In Germany and Denmark, the Hell’s Angels and the Bandidos have been on war footing. These are international criminal organisations, so the trend in other countries is reflected here as well.”       Leaders of the Finnish section of the Hell’s Angels are currently under suspicion in an extensive drug smuggling and dealing case.       This does not come as a surprise to Jussi Oksanen, who says that police have been collecting surveillance material on the organisation’s activities for a long time.       “The Helsinki drug police, along with the West Uusimaa Police can now demonstrate that the members themselves are involved in criminal activities”, Oksanen says.       According to Oksanen, actual members of the motorcycle gangs have previously been careful not to get their hands dirty.       “They have let the others do the jobs where there is a risk of getting caught.”       Police say that surveillance activities have revealed that the Hell’s Angels have used smaller gangs as partners. Traditionally the gang has been very careful of its image, and has avoided committing crimes that could bring bad publicity.       Police say that the Hell’s Angels differ from the Bandidos, and the purely Finnish Cannonball in that it has not set up many new subsections, nor has it taken actual supporter gangs into its organisations.       For instance, Bandidos has several subsections on various levels, which are seen as stepping stones by members who want to advance within the organisation.       The Hell’s Angels have had about a third of the number of members as the Bandidos, which has undergone considerable expansion recently.       “However, now for the first time a new group, the 1% Bad Machine 81 Finland has entered the Hell’s Angels’ official organisation. Why the group made the move right now remains unclear”, Oksanen says.       He notes that one possibility is that the Hell’s Angels are flexing their muscles for possible clashes to come.

 

Hell’s Angels leaders suspected in massive drug case

 

The drugs squad of the Helsinki Police and the West Uusimaa Police have uncovered an exceptionally large drug smuggling and growing operation, in which the main suspects are members of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club.       Police managed to confiscate several kilos of amphetamine and cocaine as well as a number of unlicensed weapons and about EUR 200,000 in cash. Police also found the biggest cannabis growing operation ever discovered in Finland.       Detective inspector Jari Pynnönen describes the case as one of the biggest in Finnish history. What makes it exceptional is that the police were able to trace the drug trafficking organisation to the very highest levels.       “Six members of the Hell’s Angels organisation have been detained or arrested during the investigation. Included are people from the top leadership of the organisation all the way to the presidential level”, Pynnönen says.       A total of 10 people have been held in connection with the case. The investigation began already in the late summer of 2009.       Pynnönen says that the smuggling, transport, and growing of illegal drugs has continued for years. Millions of euros are believed to have been involved in the business. The street value of the drugs that were confiscated was estimated at EUR 800,000.       The drugs have been smuggled from Central Europe in hiding places built in various vehicles. Smuggling has been done largely by couriers hired abroad, who have not had significant criminal records, or any direct connection with the Hell’s Angels.       The drugs were brought to Helsinki, from where they were distributed throughout the greater Helsinki region, and possibly to other parts of Southern Finland. Pynnönen says that helping in the distribution have been a supporter club with close ties to the Hell’s Angels, as well as so-called “hangaround members”.       Pyynönen sees the bust as a major blow to the illegal drug business in Finland for a while, but he also expects the gap to be filled up as new players enter the field.       “In this respect it is important that plenty of cash and many illegal weapons were confiscated. This always slows the reorganisation of the activities.”

 

Ex-wife chases Hells Angel biker for child support

Linda Sebastaio, ex-wife of former Oshawa Hells Angel Steven Gault, wants child support money for their 14-year-old daughter. He's now in a witness protection program after working as a police agent.

PETER EDWARDS/TORONTO STAR

Like many single mothers, Linda Sebastiao dreads the back-to-school bills, when she’s expected to shell out big bucks for clothing and school supplies.

Also like many single parents, Sebastiao is hoping to share the bills with her former spouse.

The problem is Sebastiao’s ex is Steven (Hannibal) Gault, a former Oshawa Hells Angel who’s now deep in a witness protection program. And how do you collect child support from someone who has a secret identity and address?

Gault testified in court in 2008 that he had received more than $1 million for his undercover work with police that helped land his former biker colleagues behind bars. That work ended with convictions for drugs, weapons and criminal organization, against 21 Ontario Hells Angels and associates.

Sebastiao, 34, says a lawyer has calculated that Gault owes $487,000 in child support going back eight years. She plans to file papers in court very soon.

This week, through a police intermediary, Gault offered her a one-time only payment of $200, she says.

Gault could not be reached for comment.

During his biker days, Gault wasn’t known to back down from fights and was nicknamed “Hannibal” for his taste for blood.

“He was proud of that,” Sebastiao says.

Sebastiao said Gault was proud that he bit off a chunk of a man’s ear in a Campbellford pool hall brawl. He was convicted of assault for that.

“When we would make him steak for supper, his was just with spices, raw, not even on the grill for a little,” she says.

Sebastiao is certain Gault has plenty of money to help out with expenses for their 14-year-old daughter, if he wished.

“He would rather spend $5,000 on a (motor)bike part than $50 for a good pair of shoes for his daughter.” Sebastiao says.

Theoretically, Sebastiao has a strong claim for child support benefits, experts say.

Toronto lawyer Barry Swadron says Sebastiao should be able to get paperwork requiring Gault to pay child support, even if she doesn’t know his new location and identity.

“The very people who are protecting him should be cooperative in serving the necessary papers,” says Swadron, who once served divorce papers to someone in witness protection through the RCMP.

The Family Responsibility Office is charged with enforcing child and spousal support orders, and an official there says Gault can’t hide from child support obligations while hiding from his former biker buddies.

However, Sebastiao will have to push the issue, if she hopes to collect money.

The Family Responsibility Office isn’t informed when clients are put into witness protection programs, says Charlotte Wilkinson of the Ministry of Community and Social Services, which administers the Family Responsibility Office.

“If FRO becomes aware that a support payor is in witness protection, we have the ability to advise the relevant police service of the payer’s support obligation,” Wilkinson says. “It remains the support payer’s responsibility to make court-ordered support payments.”

In June 2010, Sebastiao was awarded $35,000 from the provincial Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, after it concluded she had been frequently physically and sexually assaulted by Gault over an eight-year period.

Sebastiao says the current tensions are a far cry from her giddy feelings when their relationship began, when she was just 18. Gault was generous and charming then, she says. Within a month, they were living together. Less than a year after that, they had a baby girl.

“He was very charming and swept me off my feet.”

Back then, Gault was a good provider, if not an honest one.

He was part of a group called “The Travellers,” which targeted seniors living on farms in Eastern Ontario for renovation scams.

One elderly farmer was bilked for $260,000 for renovation work that was never done, she says.

While the money was dirty, it was plentiful, she says.

“He gave us everything we wanted. Everything that we needed. We bought a nice, cute little place.”

The longer they were married, the more he pushed to control her, she says. She says she wasn’t allowed to have a driver’s licence and that he beat her for the smallest things, such as if he thought toilet paper was rolling the wrong way.

She said his personality took a dramatic turn for the worse when he became an outlaw biker with the Satan’s Choice Motorcycle Club. That organization was swallowed up by the Hells Angels in 2000, at which time he became a member of that club.

“After he got his full patch he thought he was king of the world.”

There was more partying, more cocaine and more abuse, she says.

Gault was convicted in 2002 of attempting to harass a Durham Region police officer and his family.

A year later, Gault had a restraining order against him, forbidding him from having contact with Sebastiao’s family after he allegedly threatened to blow up their family home with them inside.

At the 2008 trial of two Oshawa Hells — just one of the trials Gault testified at — the court heard that he once told her he could tie her to a tree, cover her with honey, and let bugs and animals eat her.

“If they can’t find a body they can’t lay a charge,” she recalled him saying. He also said it would be easy to dispose of her body with lime, she says.

His constant threats made her afraid to leave him, although she thought of it often.

“I was scared, scared of what he might do to me and my family; like what he had threatened.”

After he joined the Hells Angels, Sebastiao says Gault became increasingly nervous about their cute little house — in which Sebastiao no longer lives.

It had huge front windows, which Sebastiao loved. Gault bricked them in, telling her that cut their chances of being hurt in a drive-by shooting attack.

Their marriage finally ended around the time Gault told her he was turning police agent, to make big money from his former brothers.

At first she protested to him that she didn’t want to live in a witness protection program.

“I said, ‘I love my family. I don’t want to leave my family and never see them again.’ ”

The final breaking point, she says, was when he said he wanted to move his ex-stripper girlfriend in with them.

Today, she says she has no fears from the Hells Angels, since Gault is their enemy as well. After her split with him, club members helped out with living expenses for a few months until she could get resettled, she says.

“I’ve got no worries because I never ratted on the bikers. In the end, they’re the ones who helped me.”

What she does worry about is telling her 14-year-old daughter she might not be able to get her the school clothes she wants and needs.

“She’s getting older. She needs things.”

 

 

Dutch police leads the convoy as members of the Dutch divisions of motorcycle clubs Hells Angels and Satudarah gather to demonstrate in Amsterdam

Dutch police leads the convoy as members of the Dutch divisions of motorcycle clubs Hells Angels and Satudarah gather to demonstrate in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 04 September 2011.

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Source: EPA/BGNES

Toronto Hells Angels could get back the keys to a clubhouse that was seized by police in a 2007 raid

Toronto Hells Angels could get back the keys to a clubhouse that was seized by police in a 2007 raid because members arrested during the operation have been found not guilty of belonging to a criminal organization, say lawyers involved with the case.

The building was seized during Project Develop, an undercover operation that involved sweeping raids of Hells Angels properties across Canada and saw more than 100 members arrested. After the April 2007 blitz, Toronto Police touted the seizure of the clubhouse as deeply symbolic. Hells Angels signage was removed from the outside of the building and replaced by that of the police, indicating the property had been appropriated by authorities.

“We are now the tenants of that clubhouse,” Staff Insp. Joe Tomei was quoted by media as saying at the time. “The Hells Angels are not welcome back.”

Four years later, the clubhouse is empty, its windows boarded up and doors locked.

The Attorney General filed an application last month for forfeiture of the property, located at 498 Eastern Ave., as proceeds of crime. However, on May 21, a jury had already found senior members of the biker gang’s Toronto chapter not to be members of a criminal organization. Lawyers on both sides said that verdict undermines the Crown’s attempt to seize the club permanently.

“The Crown case has been weakened by recent rulings,” said Faiyaz Alibhai, the prosecuting Crown attorney on the file. “But there is still a case to be made.”

The legal owner of the building remains the Old Navy Property Corporation, a company Hells Angels use to purchase real estate. If the Crown loses its case for forfeiture of the property, the clubhouse will be returned to the company.

“The Crown will have a much more difficult time advancing the argument that the clubhouse is proceeds of crime after the acquittals. I like my chances much better in light of the recent findings,” said Ryan Naimark, a lawyer representing Old Navy.

After a six-month trial that ended in May, a jury acquitted five men of belonging to a criminal organization: John Neal, 61, president of the Toronto chapter; vice presidents Douglas Myles, 54, and Larry Pooler, 61; and full-patch members Mehrdad Bahman, 48, and Lorne Campbell, 62.

Neal, Myles and Bahman were, however, found guilty of drug charges relating to trafficking the date-rape drug GHB; Campbell was found guilty of trafficking cocaine, and Pooler was found guilty of trafficking oxycodone and possessing a restricted weapon. The men have not yet been sentenced. In addition to those guilty verdicts, the Crown’s forfeiture application includes a plethora of evidence gathered by police at the clubhouse in 2007, including drugs, cash and weapons.

“The application for forfeiture is based not on whether the Hells Angels are a criminal organization, but whether the clubhouse is offence-related property,” Mr. Alibhai said.

Detective Sergeant Len Isnor of the Ontario Provincial Police’s Biker Enforcement Bureau does not believe the case for forfeiture is weakened by the jury’s recent findings.

“This is the first time they’ve been found not to be a criminal organization,” Det. Sgt. Isnor said. “But listen, that has nothing to do with the clubhouse. By no means are the Hells Angels getting that clubhouse back.”

The Hells Angels adhere to a strict set of rules and guidelines. No rape is one. No shooting firearms at clubhouse functions is another. And while biker clubhouses have been known to have hiding places to store money and drugs, Craig Bottomley, a lawyer representing Neal, said no drug deals are conducted on clubhouse property.

Mr. Alibhai said the Crown is seeking more than just the clubhouse. “We’re also asking for forfeiture of all Hells Angels-related property.”

A court date for the forfeiture proceeding will be set July 21.

Fortification bylaw allows for Hell's Angels scrutiny

Hamilton Hell's Angels will have to get used to a bit of extra scrutiny.
A fortification bylaw enacted by the City of Hamilton early last year is being enforced for the first time in an inspection of the Angels new clubhouse on Beach Road.
They'll check for things like heavy steel plating on doors, bars on windows and surveillance cameras.
The Hell's Angels lost their last clubhouse on Lottridge Avenue after a 2009 raid.
Seven members were arrested and the property was seized.

 

Judge to rule on appeal for Hells Angels Punko and Potts

Canada’s highest court is expected to decide Thursday whether it will hear the appeal of a ruling ordering a new trial for two Hells Angels accused of committing offences for a criminal organization.

In February the B.C. Court of Appeal allowed a federal Crown appeal and ordered the new trial for John Punko and Randy Potts.

The decision followed a November 2009 ruling by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask to throw out the criminal organization charges against the two men.

The pair had argued that the issue of whether the Hells Angels was a criminal organization had been decided by a jury during a prior trial involving Punko and Potts on weapons charges.

Following the Leask ruling, Punko and Potts pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce and traffic in methamphetamines, possession of the proceeds of crime and trafficking in cocaine.

Following the Court of Appeal ruling, Punko and Potts sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The high court indicated Tuesday that it would be ruling on that leave application on Thursday.

The federal Crown has indicated that it will be pursuing a new trial for Punko, but not Potts. The Punko matter has been adjourned until September pending the outcome of the Supreme Court of Canada proceedings.

Punko and Potts were among more than a dozen members and associates of the East End chapter of the Hells Angels arrested in 2005 following the RCMP’s Project E-Pandora.

 

Hells Angels charged in slaying of B.C. grandpa

Kelowna, B.C., dad Dain Phillips would have done anything for his three sons and grandchildren.

So when his two youngest told him about an ongoing dispute with two brothers they had known in high school, he stepped in to resolve it peacefully.

Instead, Phillips was fatally beaten with hammers and baseball bats on a Kelowna roadside June 12.

Now two full-patch Hells Angels and five others have been charged with killing Phillips, 51.

The counts against Norman Cocks, 31, and Robert Thomas, 46, are the first accusing patch-wearing Hells Angels of murder in the 28-year history of the biker gang in B.C.

Also charged is Cocks' dad, Robert, the 52-year-old president of the Hells Angels puppet club, the Throttle Lockers.

Six of the seven accused killers, including both Cocks senior and junior, brothers Daniel and Matthew McRae, Anson Schell and Thomas Vaughan appeared in Kelowna provincial court Monday and were remanded in custody until July 21.

Thomas has not yet been arrested.

Phillips was attacked about 7 p.m. June 12 after he had agreed to meet some people connected to the feud with his sons.

Several men armed with hammers, baseball bats and other items arrived in two other vehicles and started striking Phillips.

Critically wounded and left unconscious in a pool of his blood, Phillips died later in hospital.

Kelowna RCMP Sgt. Anne Morrison confirmed after his death that Phillips did not provoke the attack nor did he engage in the altercation.

Two of the suspects charged in the death, brothers Daniel McRae, 21, and Matthew McRae, 19, attended Rutland Secondary School with Phillips's two youngest sons who are in their early 20s.

The pairs of brothers had exchanged heated words on a few occasions at a popular local party spot called Postill Lake.

After one of the exchanges, the Phillips brothers said they were threatened.

When their father heard about the threats, he wanted to sort the matter out and agreed to the meeting that would cost him his life, according to information obtained by the Vancouver Sun.

Phillips lived on a disability pension with his wife and toddler grandson. He had no criminal history.

At six foot three, Phillips was a right winger in the Western Hockey League from 1978 to 1980, playing with goaltender Kelly Hrudey in Medicine Hat, Alta., and Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff in Lethbridge, Alta.

The Hells Angels started its Kelowna chapter in 2007. The gang now has several puppet clubs operating in Kelowna and surrounding areas, including the Throttle Lockers and King Pins.

Hells Angels members in B.C. have been charged and convicted in drug cases and of extortion and assault, but have never been charged with murder until now.

Norman Cocks has no criminal record in B.C., according to the court database online. His dad, Robert, was charged in 100 Mile House, B.C., in 2008 with possessing a weapon without authorization and is due back in court in that case July 12.

Daniel McRae was convicted last November of damaging property and fined $500. He, his brother and Schell, 19, were all charged with assault in connection with an incident on June 27, 2010 and are still before the courts in that case. Their next appearance is Dec. 6, 2011.

Vaughan, 22, has no criminal history.

Thomas was convicted in 2006 with possession of stolen property and possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition. He got four months in jail and a lifetime firearms prohibition.

A service for Phillips was held on June 18, at the Heartland Ranch in Kelowna.

In his obituary, Phillips was remembered as "a hard working man with a lust for life."

"He was a family man in every sense of the term. Dad served his family with all of his huge heart up until the minute he died," said the obit.

"His legacy is his sons and the values he instilled in them, and the heart he taught everyone around him to live their lives with. He will be longingly missed by all and forever be in our hearts."

 

Hells Angels charged in slaying of B.C. grandpa

Kelowna, B.C., dad Dain Phillips would have done anything for his three sons and grandchildren.

So when his two youngest told him about an ongoing dispute with two brothers they had known in high school, he stepped in to resolve it peacefully.

Instead, Phillips was fatally beaten with hammers and baseball bats on a Kelowna roadside June 12.

Now two full-patch Hells Angels and five others have been charged with killing Phillips, 51.

The counts against Norman Cocks, 31, and Robert Thomas, 46, are the first accusing patch-wearing Hells Angels of murder in the 28-year history of the biker gang in B.C.

Also charged is Cocks' dad, Robert, the 52-year-old president of the Hells Angels puppet club, the Throttle Lockers.

Six of the seven accused killers, including both Cocks senior and junior, brothers Daniel and Matthew McRae, Anson Schell and Thomas Vaughan appeared in Kelowna provincial court Monday and were remanded in custody until July 21.

Thomas has not yet been arrested.

Phillips was attacked about 7 p.m. June 12 after he had agreed to meet some people connected to the feud with his sons.

Several men armed with hammers, baseball bats and other items arrived in two other vehicles and started striking Phillips.

Critically wounded and left unconscious in a pool of his blood, Phillips died later in hospital.

Kelowna RCMP Sgt. Anne Morrison confirmed after his death that Phillips did not provoke the attack nor did he engage in the altercation.

Two of the suspects charged in the death, brothers Daniel McRae, 21, and Matthew McRae, 19, attended Rutland Secondary School with Phillips's two youngest sons who are in their early 20s.

The pairs of brothers had exchanged heated words on a few occasions at a popular local party spot called Postill Lake.

After one of the exchanges, the Phillips brothers said they were threatened.

When their father heard about the threats, he wanted to sort the matter out and agreed to the meeting that would cost him his life, according to information obtained by the Vancouver Sun.

Phillips lived on a disability pension with his wife and toddler grandson. He had no criminal history.

At six foot three, Phillips was a right winger in the Western Hockey League from 1978 to 1980, playing with goaltender Kelly Hrudey in Medicine Hat, Alta., and Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff in Lethbridge, Alta.

The Hells Angels started its Kelowna chapter in 2007. The gang now has several puppet clubs operating in Kelowna and surrounding areas, including the Throttle Lockers and King Pins.

Hells Angels members in B.C. have been charged and convicted in drug cases and of extortion and assault, but have never been charged with murder until now.

Norman Cocks has no criminal record in B.C., according to the court database online. His dad, Robert, was charged in 100 Mile House, B.C., in 2008 with possessing a weapon without authorization and is due back in court in that case July 12.

Daniel McRae was convicted last November of damaging property and fined $500. He, his brother and Schell, 19, were all charged with assault in connection with an incident on June 27, 2010 and are still before the courts in that case. Their next appearance is Dec. 6, 2011.

Vaughan, 22, has no criminal history.

Thomas was convicted in 2006 with possession of stolen property and possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition. He got four months in jail and a lifetime firearms prohibition.

A service for Phillips was held on June 18, at the Heartland Ranch in Kelowna.

In his obituary, Phillips was remembered as "a hard working man with a lust for life."

"He was a family man in every sense of the term. Dad served his family with all of his huge heart up until the minute he died," said the obit.

"His legacy is his sons and the values he instilled in them, and the heart he taught everyone around him to live their lives with. He will be longingly missed by all and forever be in our hearts."

 

recruitment of 60 Bandidos members from three of its Sydney chapters in February, including the entire Bandidos Parramatta branch, cost the Hells Angels $6 million

MASS defection of Bandidos bikie members to the Hells Angels in Sydney came with a price tag of $6 million in an extraordinary peacekeeping deal struck between the two former rival gangs.

The payout to secure the defections, aimed at bolstering Hells Angels ranks in NSW, included the formal signing of a contract, The Sun-Herald can reveal.

NSW Gang Squad police have learned that the recruitment of 60 Bandidos members from three of its Sydney chapters in February, including the entire Bandidos Parramatta branch, cost the Hells Angels $6 million. That would translate to $100,000 for every Bandido adopting the flying skull logo of the Hells Angels.

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It is unclear if the money went into the coffers of the remaining Bandidos branches or has been paid to each defector.

The recruitment drive is aimed at boosting the Hells Angels' ranks before the High Court decides if NSW Police moves to outlaw the club under anti-gang legislation are lawful.

Bolstering Hells Angels numbers to form new chapters in Kings Cross, Haymarket and Parramatta is also believed to counter the Comanchero and Nomad gangs, who have taken in members of the now defunct Kings Cross gang Notorious.

It is understood the recruitment deal was organised by Felix Lyle, a former Bandido who is a rising force in the Hells Angels. Offers were also made to members of other clubs.

Switching clubs is considered a serious transgression and often leads to violence; hence the payout.

The Hells Angels and Comancheros have been feuding since the Comancheros firebombed a Hells Angels tattoo parlour in 2008.

The fatal airport brawl of March 2009 and subsequent revenge shooting of Hells Angels member Peter Zervas were allegedly results of the firebombing.

But with the increase in Hells Angels ranks to more than 100 members in NSW has come the retirement of at least six long-serving members last week, including Peter Zervas, whose brother Anthony was allegedly bashed to death in the airport brawl.

Another retiree was Anthony Wainohu, an original member of the Hells Angels' first Sydney chapter, formed in Guildford in 1975.

Since its inception in the United States in 1940, the Hells Angels - which now boasts 230 chapters in 27 countries - has adopted a corporate approach to its business dealings despite a ruthless reputation.

The gang carefully guards its name and skull logo, which are trademarked.

In 2006 the Californian chapter of the gang sued Walt Disney for trademark infringement, complaining its logo was used in the film Wild Hogs.

In 2009 the former owner of clothing maker Mambo was forced to apologise to the Hells Angels in Australia for two trademark breaches involving children's clothing emblazoned with ''Heavens Angels'' and a skull with wings.

Agency gets green light to use wiretaps in Hells Angels case

Agency gets green light to use wiretaps in Hells Angels case: "The Director of Civil Forfeiture has won the latest round in its long-running court battle with the Nanaimo Hells Angels.

The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that the government agency can have access to evidence police uncovered -including wiretaps -during a twoyear investigation of the Nanaimo chapter dubbed Project Halo.

The RCMP recommended a series of charges resulting from the probe in a report to Crown Counsel but none were ever laid. The Civil Forfeiture office sought to use the police material in its court challenge to maintain control of the bikers' Nanaimo clubhouse.

The property, assessed in 2011 at $101,000, was seized in November 2007 because the Civil Forfeiture office alleged it was being used as an instrument for unlawful activity."

Deconstructing a tangled renovation

Deconstructing a tangled renovation - Canada - TheChronicleHerald.ca: "Montreal construction firm previously controlled by an alleged Hells Angels hit man won a $9-million renovation contract on Parliament Hill in spite of a series of warnings about the firm, including one from one of the architects managing the project, documents show.

Julia Gersovitz, an award-winning Montreal architect who has been overseeing the complex renovations of the crumbling parliamentary building since 1995, was 'aghast' that L.M. Sauve could pre-qualify and she warned that the company was 'one of the worst contractors they have dealt with.'

L.M. Sauve won the job after paying more than $100,000 to Tory lobbyist Gilles Varin, who set up a meeting between contractor Paul Sauve, head of L.M. Sauve, and Bernard Cote, a senior aide to Michael Fortier, the minister of public works at the time.

Sauve has testified that he believes Varin was greasing the wheels in Ottawa to help him win the contract: 'Because we paid, we received.'"

Warrants issued for B.C. men accused of drug smuggling

Warrants issued for B.C. men accused of drug smuggling: "group of suspected B.C. drug smugglers who police allege worked on behalf of the Hells Angels has been indicted in Washington state.

U.S. warrants were issued Wednesday for Dustin Meehan, Justin Harris, Ronald Lochbaum and Gordy Dahms, alleging they transported major shipments of marijuana across the border for several years using various methods to conceal the illicit loads.

The four are alleged to have worked with Rob Shannon, Devron Quast, Jody York and others who have already pleaded guilty in Seattle.

Shannon was earlier handed a 20-year sentence, while others got lesser terms. York and six others who were charged last October have pleaded guilty but are yet to be sentenced.

The latest indictment says the four collaborated in a B.C.-based organization that took dozens of loads of marijuana from Canada to the U.S. on behalf of clients who paid them for successfully transporting and delivering it."

Tory councillor admits secret life as member of violent biker gang the Outlaws | Mail Online

Tory councillor admits secret life as member of violent biker gang the Outlaws | Mail Online: "respectable Conservative councillor and former mayor has admitted leading a secret double life - as a leather-clad member of a violent biker gang.

Jim Mason, 61, has led a distinguished 12-year career as a cabinet member on Tewkesbury Borough Council, Gloucestershire.

But it emerged he was a member of the fearsome Outlaws Motorcycle Club, who were behind the 2007 murder of a Hells Angel on the M40 in Warwickshire."

Brockville cocaine dealer has pleaded guilty to conspiring with a violent criminal organization run by a member of the Hells Angels Nomads.

Brockville cocaine dealer has pleaded guilty to conspiring with a violent criminal organization run by a member of the Hells Angels Nomads.

Prosecutors allege Ryan Morton, 27, was a mid-level dealer when the criminal organization run by Mario "Five Cent" Sincennes moved into town in an attempt to take over the drug trade in Brockville, Gananoque and Prescott between October 2007 and July 2009.

Morton pleaded guilty to four conspiracy charges. Those charges included conspiracy to traffic cocaine for the benefit of a criminal organization, conspiracy to commit assault causing bodily harm for the benefit of a criminal organization and conspiracy to possess the proceeds of crime.

Federal prosecutor Allyson Ratsoy said she planned to seek a six-to seven-year prison sentence for Morton, who is expected to have a sentencing hearing May 19 and 20.

Morton is the ninth person to plead guilty in connection with the drug ring.



Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Brockville+dealer+enters+guilty+plea/4306539/story.html#ixzz1ELAul1LZ

24-year-old affiliate of Hells Angels support gang AK81 has been charged with the 2008 murder that is said to have started off the gang wars in Copenhagen.

A 24-year-old affiliate of Hells Angels support gang AK81 has been charged with the 2008 murder that is said to have started off the gang wars in Copenhagen.

Known to the media only as MF, the man is charged with shooting 19-year-old Osman Nuri Dogan with an AK47 military rifle.

The alleged incident occurred during a drive-by shooting on 14 August 2008 in front of a pizzeria in the northwest suburb of Tingbjerg. It is widely regarded as the incident that sparked the current gang conflict, which has seen several shooting incidents in the area in recent weeks.

MF is also charged with possession of an illegal firearm as well as having arranged the murder with other “unidentified persons”.

The man was on the police radar as early as two days after the murder, but due to a lack of evidence, he was released. Last summer, police again pressed charges against him while he was serving an 18-month sentence for a violent attack.

The police’s ongoing attempts to get MF convicted of the murder of Dogan have been helped well along by a defected AK81 member known as MFP, who himself is serving a 12-year sentence for a series of attempted murders. MFP has also been a decisive factor in a case against 13 people with connections to Hells Angels and AK81, who are charged with a range of attempted murders.