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Organized Crime Biker Headlines

TORONTO - The Rock Machine motorcycle club is actively recruiting members in the Greater Toronto Area, but organizers say they're not worried about a repeat of the gang's bloody war with the Hells Angels in Quebec, which killed some 160 people. The Angels have 10 chapters within a 90-minute drive of Toronto City Hall. (Toronto Star)

Life in prison for biker hit man

QUEBEC CITY - An alleged hit man for Quebec bikers was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder and attempted murder. Gérald Gallant, 57, pleaded guilty to a single count of first-degree murder and attempted murder in connection to a shooting at a Laurentians bar seven years ago. (CBC)

Ailing biker gets break

PHILADELPHIA - US District Judge Harvey Bartle III sentenced Frederick "Panhead" Freehoff, 51, to a 15-year prison sentence and a lifetime on supervised release, instead of 22 to 27 years in prison, which included a 20-year mandatory minimum, under federal advisory sentencing guidelines. (Philadelphia Daily News) PREVIOUS: Police nab, Fuzzy, Chains, Scary Movie, Tommy Trash, Etc.

Hells Angel pal pleads guilty

VANCOUVER - An associate of the Hells Angels has pleaded guilty to extortion and been sentenced to two years in a federal jail. But a judge imposed an unusual publication ban which means the exact nature of the crimes of Leroy Serra Pereira, 37, cannot be reported. In Vancouver, BC Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm agreed to a request from a prosecutor and sealed a 25-page document that describes in detail Pereira's crime. (Vancouver Province)

Hells Angels kicked out of Iceland

KEFLAVIK - Eight members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club were arrested at Keflavík International Airport on Friday and denied entry to Iceland. They spent the night at the airport and 16 police officers followed them out of the country the next day. (Iceland Review)

Unescorted leave after 5 life sentences

SAINTE-ANNE-DES-PLAINES, Que. - Jacques Pelletier, one of the Hells Angels who took part in what is now commonly referred to as the Lennoxville Purge, was granted the right to take unescorted leaves yesterday so he can visit his family. (Montreal Gazette)

Hells Angels busted

ST. JOHN'S - What started as an investigation into drunken thuggery in downtown St. John's 18 months ago has climaxed in a large drug bust that is now officially linked to the Hells Angels. (Telegram)

Hells Angel arrested

MONTREAL - One of Quebec's 10 most wanted criminals was arrested after being on the lam for more than three years. Police have been looking for Marc-Andre Hinse, who headed the Hells Angels chapter in Trois Rivieres, since May 2004, according to a statement by the Surete du Quebec. (Montreal Gazette)

Sentenced to life

ALBANY - Richard (Rick) Vallée, a longtime member of the Hells Angels, now has a lifetime membership in the Bighouse Crew. The former founding member of the biker gang's Quebec-based Nomads chapter was sentenced to life in prison in Albany, NY, as a result of his conviction for murdering Lee Carter, a police informant, in 1993. (Montreal Gazette) PREVIOUS: Life for killing informant Hells Angel gets life Angel with bloody hands Hells Angel fugitive extradited Most wanted captured

Cops target biker

EDMONTON - Police are targeting an elite member of the local Hells Angels suspected of large-scale methamphetamine dealing, according to court documents. (Sun Media)

Biker turf war escalating

BERLIN - The Bandidos and the Hell's Angels are waging all-out war for dominance in Germany. Court testimony by a former member - who crossed his gang and is now living in protective custody - is providing frightening details about these secretive societies. (Spiegel) MORE: Part 2: Defending their territory

Hells Angels plotted to kill Mick

Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones singer was the target of an assassination attempt which only failed because the boat the would-be killers were using was swamped in a storm. (Telegraph UK) MORE: BBC Radio 4: The FBI at 100 Jagger murder plot

Too dangerous to be freed

KINGSTON - The corrections system has given up on Gregory Wooley. The 36-year-old, reputed to be a killer for the Hells Angels, was denied statutory release this week after the National Parole Board ruled he was too high a risk to "kill or cause serious harm to another person" before his sentence ends on Dec. 26, 2009. (Montreal Gazette) PREVIOUS: Syndicate

Biker nabbed

WINNIPEG - William (Billy) Bowden, 32, was transported back to Winnipeg, where he was charged with manslaughter in the stabbing death of 24-year old Jeffrey Engen in a downtown cabaret last November. (Vancouver Sun) PREVIOUS: Police tracked girlfriend to catch fugitive biker Trial to focus on nightclub violence RCMP arrest Bowden in BC

Biker jailed over fatal crash

PENTICTON - Aaron Lardner, 35, was convicted of criminal negligence causing death and impaired driving causing death in the crash that killed his passenger, 22-year-old Lindsay Paulson. (CanWest) PREVIOUS: Biker found guilty in fatal crash

Trial resumes

WINNIPEG - The trial of former Manitoba Hells Angels president Ernie Dew resumed this morning with a series of combative exchanges between Dew's court-appointed lawyer and police informant Franco Atanasovic. (Winnipeg Free Press)

'Hells Angels own Yab Yum brothel'

Amsterdam's most notorious brothel, Yab Yum, should be closed down because it is owned by Hells Angels who used blackmail to take it over, city council officials claimed in court on Thursday. (Dutch News) PREVIOUS: Amsterdam to clean up "Red Light" district

Ex-biker guilty in slaying

NEWMARKET - It was kill or be killed the night he drew a pistol in a Vaughan strip club and killed one Hells Angel and wounded two others, outlaw biker Frank (Cisco) Lenti says. Lenti, 59, pleaded guilty yesterday in Newmarket court to manslaughter for fatally shooting David (Dred) Buchanan, a high-ranking member of the West Toronto Hells Angels, after midnight on Dec. 2, 2006. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: Associate pleads guilty to manslaughter Biker's son snubbed by military

Indiana man in biker shooting case

PIERRE, SD - A judge erred by having closed meetings with defense attorneys and allowing secret defense testing of evidence from a shooting spree by motorcycle gang members last summer, state lawyers argue. The flap, which is expected to be decided by the high court in January, arose in a case involving Chad Wilson, 32, a member of the Hells Angels chapter in San Diego, and John Midmore, 34, prospect of the Hells Angels chapter in British Columbia. (AP)

West End Gang turned down

LAVAL - Gerald (Gerry) Matticks already knew his chances were slim. The reputed influential member of the West End Gang was denied parole yesterday, his first chance at a release since he was sentenced in 2002 to a 12-year prison term for helping the Hells Angels smuggle tonnes of hashish through the Port of Montreal. (Montreal Gazette) PREVIOUS: Crimes pays

Criminal trial begins

AMSTERDAM - The court in Amsterdam will start the criminal trial of 22 members of the Hell's Angels on Monday. Among them are the former president of the Amsterdam chapter, Wim van B., his successor Daniël U. and Harry S., another influential member of the Angels in Amsterdam. The public prosecution's most important charge against the motorcycle club is that the club is a criminal organisation. This carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. (Expatica)

Lawyer argues Hells Angels are not a criminal organization

REGINA - A charge against a member of the Regina chapter of the Hells Angels fell apart because authorities couldn't prove the notorious motorcycle club is actually a criminal organization, says the man's lawyer. (CanWest) MORE: Withdrawal of charge won't affect other cases: prosecutor RELATED: Ex-Hells Angel fails to get conditional parole, while former biker colleague granted day passes

Soup kitchen seeks Hells Angels' help

Hells Angel's Legacy sparks fight

VANCOUVER - Ross McLellan, 59, a longtime member of the Angels chapter in Haney, died of natural causes on a flight to Maui on Dec. 13, 2006, part of a trip he was taking with fellow members of the biker gang. (Vancouver Sun)

PREVIOUS: Hells Angel dies on flight to Maui

Hells Angel sues strip club

Toronto Hells Angels biker Carlo Verrelli is suing a Vaughan strip club for $1.1 million, claiming he has suffered permanent psychological and physical injuries from being shot several times by a club employee, who also fatally shot a fellow Hells Angel. (Toronto Star)

Cocaine-trafficking case collapses

BURLINGTON - The Crown has dropped its case against four men charged in a massive cocaine trafficking ring allegedly linked to organized crime because the investigating RCMP drug officers were on sick leave. (Hamilton Spectator) PREVIOUS: RCMP faces new charges

The death dealers

SYDNEY - After he fired the shots that killed Brendan Keilar and wounded two others, the gunman placed the pistol barrel under his chin. For a moment, he seemed set to kill himself, but he lost his nerve and ran. If he had pulled the trigger, it would have blown his head off. It's that sort of gun. (Sun Herald)

Hells Angel convicted

VANCOUVER - Villy Roy Lynnerup, who grew up in Richmond, was arrested after he tried to pass through airport security with a loaded semi-automatic pistol on April 28, 2006. (Richmond News)

Sweden grapples with biker gangs

STOCKHOLM - Three and a half years after first receiving threats from members of the Bandidos motorcycle gang at his Iranian restaurant in Goteborg, Massoud Garakoei lives in fear. (IHT)

Hells Angel may be in Canada

Phoenix Deputy US Marshal Eric Brown said Paul Merle Eischeid crossed into Canada sometime after 2003 and is believed to have found shelter from Hells Angels chapters across Canada, including in Winnipeg. (Winnipeg Free Press) PREVIOUS: US Marshals Most Wanted

Biker charged for wearing 'colours'

MOOSE JAW - A member of the Hells Angels was charged by Moose Jaw police for wearing gang colours in a licensed establishment on Saturday afternoon. The charge was laid under The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act. (Regina Leader-Post) PREVIOUS: Moose Jaw's $400K traffic stop

Ex-wife loses lawsuit

NANAIMO - Christine Diane Beban had claimed she should have received as much as four times the $1.7 million she settled for in her divorce from Lyle Newton, a former member of the Nanaimo chapter of the biker gang. (CanWest)

Wife seeks 'hidden riches'

VANCOUVER - Janette Wu, in her divorce proceedings against Damiano Dipopolo, said he had not fully reported his income and that the couple's standard of living showed that he earned further cash. (Vancouver Province)

Police remove signs

NANAIMO - In a move designed to "protect" Nanaimo's Hells Angels clubhouse from theft or vandalism, the provincial government ordered all signs relating to the alleged organized crime group be removed from building's exterior. Police arrived this week to board up the signs and remove the notorious skull-and-wing insignia from the front of the building on Victoria Road. (Victoria Times Colonist)

Seizure of clubhouse

Clubhouse seized

Province seizes Angels clubhouse

Nanaimo Hells Angels clubhouse

Police seize Nanaimo biker lair

BC Civil Forfeiture Act

Province grabs Hells Angels clubhouse

Safety of police considered

Judge upholds secrecy surrounding raid

Pot case ends with jail terms

VANCOUVER - The largest marijuana prosecution in BC history ended with the sentencing of five men to prison terms ranging from 31/2 to seven years for shipping $50-million worth of bud to the US. (Vancouver Sun) PREVIOUS: Six year probe shines light on gangs Judge pulls plug on Hydro defence

No Charter violation, court says

VANCOUVER - An alleged Hells Angels associate may be on the hook again after the BC Court of Appeal ruled Thursday a charge against him under Canadian anti-gang laws did not violate the Charter of Rights. (Vancouver Sun) JUDGMENT: R. v. Terezakis 2007 BCCA 384

Acquittal in key test of anti-gang law

VANCOUVER - The first test case in BC of Canada's anti-gang law applied against the Hells Angels ended in an acquittal, dealing a blow to police and prosecutors who alleged the Hells Angels are a criminal organization. (Sun)

Hells Angel pleads with a judge not to lift ban

Hells Angel asks court to keep press ban

Hells Angels on trial

Defence lawyer denies accused was drug czar

Prosecutor alleges joint venture

3 accused were in business for Hells Angels

Judge grills Crown during trial

E-mail flurry followed cocaine loss

Flurry of messages sent

The 'power of the patch' in court

Ban lifted on secret trial

Stakes huge for public on anti-gang law

Tapes reveal Hells Angels plot

Hells Angels associate in court

VANCOUVER - Hells Angels associate is to appear in court today in connection with an assault that put a man in hospital in serious condition. Trevor Dale Holmes, 45, was arrested Tuesday after police were called to the alley behind the 1500-block West 68th Avenue. A passerby had found a 31-year-old man beaten and unconscious in the alley. (Vancouver Province)

'Stay away from Hells Angels'

ST. CATHARINES - A Niagara cop has been ordered to stay away from the Hells Angels while awaiting his trial on allegations he leaked secret documents to unauthorized parties. Constable Frank Dean Rudge, 43, must also surrender all his police gear, including his service pistol, to the Niagara regional police pending the outcome of the case. (Hamilton Spectator)

1st Project Drill target pleads guilty

WINNIPEG - Project Drill has quickly struck gold. One of the 18 targets of a massive, year-long undercover police investigation entered a surprising guilty plea Tuesday, just six days after his arrest. (Winnipeg Free Press)

Hells Angel brother vs. brother

Gang leader shot dead in Thompson

Tough road ahead

Another gangster arrested in RCMP sting

Hells Angel member tried to have brother killed

Crackdown on bikers spreads into BC

Arrests in raids on Hells Angels

Winnipeg club house hit in police raids

Cross country 'Project Drill' raids

Seized firepower shocking to police

Rapper turns away SWAT team

Pilot couldn't resist dream

WINNIPEG - Whether it was a plane, a train or an automobile, Joel Maguet wasn't very picky when it came to dreaming up innovative schemes on how to peddle drugs across Canada. (Free Press) PREVIOUS: Plane used to deliver drugs Dead pilot accused of two biker murders Perspective: Drugs, bikers and death

Judge upholds charges against Breed biker gang members

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. - Fifteen Breed outlaw motorcycle gang members will face trial in Bucks County Court on a myriad of drug charges, a district justice ruled yesterday after a preliminary hearing that lasted three days under heavy security from sheriff’s deputies. (Trentonian)

Son of Hells Angels boss still 'guilty

VANCOUVER - Jonathan Sal Bryce, son of John Bryce, the 56-year-old president of Vancouver's East End chapter of the Hells Angels, decided not to withdraw his guilty plea in a drug case and to proceed with sentencing next month. (Vancouver Sun)

City surprised hotel owned by Hells Angel

VANCOUVER - Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan has ordered a review of how real estate deals are done after the controversial purchase by the city of the Drake Hotel from a prominent Hells Angel member for $3.2 million. (Vancouver Sun) COMMENT: Disingenuous or Dumb?

2 charged with 2003 prison murder

SASKATOON - Two men have been charged with the first-degree murder of Aime Joseph Simard, who was stabbed to death at Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert four years ago. (CBC) PREVIOUS: Inmate's death raises alarm over prison violence

SCC to hear appeal in Hells Angel murder

The Supreme Court of Canada will hear the appeal of a Halifax man convicted of first-degree murder in an October 2000 Hells Angels hit. (Halifax Daily News) PREVIOUS: Gang's history soaked in blood

Hells Angel, ex-cop charged with weapons offences

WINNIPEG - Two men, including a former police officer and someone believed to be a Hells Angels member, were arrested on drugs and weapons charges on Saturday, a Winnipeg police spokesman said Monday. (CBC) MORE: Hells Angel, former policeman arrested

Fired, Re-Hired

VANCOUVER - Mindi Niedermeiser, the B.C. border guard who partied with the Hells Angels, had been previously fired by the Canada Border Services Agency for misconduct but was reinstated after an appeal. (Vancouver Sun) PREVIOUS: Border guard partied with Hells Angels

Hells Angels, state face off in bidding war for clubhouse

PHOENIX - State prosecutors, who obtained a half interest in the property under forfeiture laws, are competing with the outlaw club's Cave Creek Charter to buy the house through a court-ordered auction. (Arizona Republic)

Hells Angel fugitive extradited to US for trial

MONTREAL - He twice evaded the Montreal police once by escaping from a local hospital, the second time by posing as a mild-mannered businessman living in Costa Rica. (CanWest) PREVIOUS: Most wanted captured

Hells Angel allowed to chat with biker buddies

WINNIPEG - Shane Kirton has a lot of catching up to do, now that Manitoba’s highest court says the full-patch Hells Angel member can communicate with his biker buddies while on probation. Kirton, 39, won a unique legal challenge this week that overturned a lower court ruling banning him from having contact with members or associates of any gang, including the Hells. (Winnipeg Free Press)

Jury convicts biker

MONTREAL - Denis Gallant can savour his last murder case as a successful one. Yesterday, at the Laval courthouse, he was given a going away present from an 11-member jury, who found Tony Duguay, 33, guilty of first-degree murder in the April 17, 2000, killing of Hells Angel Normand (Biff) Hamel. (Montreal Gazette) PREVIOUS: Takin' care of Canadians outlaw biker business Hit man rolls over on gang suspect

Mistrial declared

MONTREAL - A former lawyer for the Hells Angels will be back in court in September 2008 after a mistrial was recently declared at his trial on charges of gangsterism and obstructing justice. Quebec Superior Court Justice Jean-Guy Boilard put an end to Benoit Cliche's trial last week when the jury said it could not reach a verdict after eight days of deliberations. (CP)

Witness against lawyer 'lies like he breathes'

Defence won't call witnesses

Police surveillance video kicks off trafficking trial

Judge blisters cops for illegal taping

Police raids nets Hells Angels lawyer

Find a job after leaving prison, biker told

MONTREAL - One of the leaders of the Bandidos biker gang, a man frequently targeted by the Hells Angels, will be released from prison soon on the condition he find honest work. Serge (Merlin) Cyr, 48, one of several Bandidos arrested in a massive police roundup in 2002, will reach his statutory release date in late February. (Montreal Gazette)

Hells Angel petition not valid, Ottawa says

VANCOUVER - Lawyers for the federal and provincial governments are trying to throw out of court a bid by the Hells Angels in B.C. to overturn a new law that targets the motorcycle club. (Province) PREVIOUS: Hells Angel says people are rude to him Hells Angel challenges organized crime law Winning the PR war

Hells Angel busted

VANCOUVER - The RCMP in the Okanagan say they have arrested a member of the Hells Angels from the Lower Mainland who appeared to be driving under the influence of drugs and was carrying a loaded handgun. (CBC)

Missing man 'probably' not dead

VANCOUVER - A judge found that her ex-husband is probably not dead, but Miriam Byrne remains convinced that Gregory Cyr, who is believed to have had underworld connections, was murdered. (Province)

The silent enforcer

MELBOURNE, Aus. - Terrance Raymond Tognolini is a man with a reputation for getting his own way. And for more than a decade those who stood in the way of the Melbourne businessman and international outlaw motorcycle gang member have found that bad things happen. (The Age) PREVIOUS: Hells Angels implicated in murder mystery

Ex-Pink Poodle bouncer slain

SAN JOSE - Gary Costanza was a bit player in a highly publicized San Jose strip club homicide nine years ago, a bouncer at the Pink Poodle who was convicted of pointing out a man who was then allegedly pummeled to death for mouthing off about the Hells Angels. (Mercury News) PREVIOUS: Anatomy of a murder Hells Angels win suit

Angels flock to biker's funeral

LONDON - Hundreds of bikers from across Europe and Canada gathered yesterday to attend the funeral of a Hells Angel who was shot dead last month. Gerard Michael Tobin, 35, formerly of Calgary, was shot in the back of the head as he was travelling at about 110 kmh on his motorcycle on Aug. 12, on the M40 motorway in Warwickshire, England. Simon Turner, 40; Dane Garside, 41; and Sean Creighton, 43, have all been charged with murder. (AP/CP)

Video: Funeral of a murdered biker

In pictures: Bikers funeral

4th arrested in UK biker slaying

4th arrest made

Arrests made over murder of biker

3 held over M40 biker death

Last image of slain biker

Biker and the Bible

No Angels