Rapper DMX was sentenced to 90 days in jail

Rapper DMX was sentenced to 90 days in jail Friday for convictions on theft, drug-possession and animal-cruelty charges. DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, also was placed on at least 18 months' supervised probation by Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Phemonia Miller.Simmons pleaded guilty Dec. 30 to three felony counts—theft, possession or use of marijuana, and possession or use of narcotic drugs—and one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty. The 38-year-old rapper has been in the Maricopa County Jail since being arrested Dec. 9 in Miami on a warrant after failing to appear in court in Phoenix. His attorney, Stephen Lee Crawford, didn't immediately return calls seeking comment. The Arizona Republic reported that Simmons was smiling as he entered the courtroom but sat down writhing in pain and subsequently said he had pain in his feet and knees and thought he was suffering from gout. Miller told him she was sentencing Earl Simmons, not DMX, the newspaper reported. "I don't know DMX. Mr. Simmons, it's time you do something different," she said. "What you have been doing is not working." Despite the prosecutor's objections, Miller said she would allow Simmons to apply to serve his sentence in Florida, the Republic said. The animal-cruelty and drug charges stem from an August 2007 raid that Maricopa County sheriff's deputies conducted at Simmons' home in Cave Creek, a Phoenix suburb. Authorities investigating a report of animal abuse found three dead dogs, guns, ammunition and drug paraphernalia. He was not given credit for time served and will not get out of jail until the end of April, said Mike Anthony Scerbo, a spokesman for Maricopa County Attorney's Office, which prosecuted the case. DMX's albums include "It's Dark and Hell is Hot," "Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood" and "Year of the Dog ... Again."

Read More

Vivian Blake arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport about 12:20 p.m. after being deported from the United States.

Vivian Blake, reputed leader of the notorious Shower Posse gang, returned to Jamaica yesterday. The 53-year-old Blake arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport about 12:20 p.m. after being deported from the United States.Blake was sentenced to 28 years in Federal prison in June 2000 in a Miami Federal Court. He had been indicted there 12 years earlier but American authorities said he fled to Jamaica, by boarding a cruise ship in Miami, where he remained free until his arrest in 1994.
Dressed in a black suit and a white shirt, Blake was transported from the airport to the CIB headquarters, downtown Kingston, where he was processed and released.Blake told reporters that he felt "great" being back home."At least I come to see my family," he told The Gleaner/Power 106 News.He said the first thing that he will do is to go and visit his daughter."I am going to see my daughter Dominique, I waan kiss her," he said.Asked if he had any regrets, Blake replied, "about what?".Blake was whisked away in a tinted vehicle, driven by his attorney George Soutar.
More than 30 persons who supported Blake converged outside the CIB headquarters and when the vehicle that was transporting him drove out, they shouted his name.One woman who walked behind the vehicle as it drove along East Queen Street yelled "Vivian Mi fren".He and other members of the Shower Posse were given lengthy sentences based on 52 charges brought by Federal prosecutors. These included racketeering, smuggling and distributing marijuana and cocaine from the Bahamas through the United States.The Shower Posse, which was strong supporter of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), was also implicated in over 1,000 murders in the US. The 'Feds' said the Posse members operated lucrative illegal drug rings in Miami, New York City, Philadelphia and Virginia.Blake was raised in West Kingston, a constituency that has backed the JLP in general elections since the 1960s. He attended St George's College where he passed three GCE subjects, but went to the US in 1972 on a football scholarship.He was one of the Shower Posse's founders, reportedly ruling it with an iron hand. They were regarded as one of America's most dangerous gangs during the 1980s when the narcotics trade was booming in that country's urban centres.

Read More

John Chisholm was found guilty witnesses gave evidence anonymously

John Chisholm was found guilty witnesses gave evidence anonymously for the first time in a North East courtroom.A jury was told how Robert Anderson suffered wounds to his chest, arm, leg and thumb after the BMW he was driving was ambushed in broad daylight by Chisholm in Hylton Road, Sunderland.Newcastle Crown Court heard that on May 24, 2007, Chisholm carried out the brutal assault in revenge for an earlier attempted shooting of his son, which Mr Anderson was accused of being involved in, but later cleared.
Chisholm snr denied wounding with intent, violent disorder and intimidation.The 49-year-old claimed he had been the victim of a "campaign of violence" by Mr Anderson and Alan Smart, who was the passenger in the BMW, and had lashed out after he saw a gun in the car.But jurors yesterday found him guilty of wounding with intent and violent disorder. He was cleared of the intimidation charge.
Speaking after the case, Sunderland's top police officer, Chief Superintendent Dave Pryer said: "Any criminal who considers themselves untouchable or above the law will certainly find no comfort in this city."Judge Tony Lancaster adjourned sentence until February 23 so Chisholm can be sentenced along with his son John Chisholm jnr, 27, and Carl Waters, 45, who admitted violent disorder at an earlier hearing in relation to the incident.
The judge ordered an assessment from the probation service of Chisholm snr's "dangerousness". The maximum sentence he faces is life.After the guilty verdicts, Detective Sergeant Paul Milner thanked the terrified witnesses, who saw the horror that day, for coming to court.The onlookers had been too afraid to come to court to give their evidence but were granted anonymity under new laws.

Read More

Anthony Perry, 22, an alleged member of a Jamaica Plain-area gang was fatally shot

Anthony Perry, 22, an alleged member of a Jamaica Plain-area gang was fatally shot in broad daylight at a busy shopping district in Jamaica Plain yesterday afternoon, shocking passersby who watched in horror as an MBTA Transit police officer tried to save the man's life on a crowded sidewalk.The man was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he later died. Police did not release the victim’s name last night, but two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation said he is Anthony Perry, 22, an alleged member of a Jamaica Plain-area gang.Perry was shot in the head, one of the officials said. The officials asked for anonymity because the case is under investigation.The brazenness of the 1:40 p.m. shooting alarmed police, who fear that Perry's associates could retaliate and jeopardize a fragile truce between two rival street gangs with a long history of violence."The victim is well known to us," said Elaine Driscoll, a spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department. "Investigators believe this was a targeted incident."Perry's family did not want to comment last night.After the shooting, four people were seen speeding off in a Pontiac down Walden Street, and police credited a detective from the B-2 division in Roxbury with seeing the car and stopping it. The men were brought in for questioning, and late last night two of the occupants were charged in connection with the shooting.Chris Jamison, 23, a reputed rival gang member, was charged with murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition, Driscoll said. Shaba Olukoga, 19, was charged with being an accessory after the fact of murder, she said. The two are expected to be arraigned today.The shooting occurred at the intersection of Centre and Walden streets, near the Fellowship Church of God and not far from a Stop & Shop shopping plaza.The business district is typically crowded during the afternoon, with car and bus traffic and pedestrians from the Jackson Square train stop.Witnesses said Perry tried to flee after the shooting, making it more than 30 yards along a row of shops before collapsing in front of the 99 Cents shop, at 319 Centre St."He was just on the ground bleeding. People were around him screaming, 'call the police,' " said Johaira Suazo, of the Castillo Services cellphone store. She said a woman came rushing into her store, horrified, and that's when Suazo saw Perry collapse.Several residents took video footage of the scene. A police official - later identified as Detective Lieutenant Mark Gillespie of the MBTA Transit police - can be seen trying to resuscitate Perry. Gillespie struggled for several minutes until an ambulance crew arrived.The area, near the Bromley-Heath housing project, has had violence before - but not like this and not during broad daylight, residents said.

Read More

Marseilles Gangwar,40 bullets struck the car and the driver was hit 15 times by shots fired from very close range

The city, which has a long history of organised, violent crime, has seen a flare-up in recent months of brutal score-settling among gangs competing in the flourishing drug trade. Kalashnikov assault rifles have become a common weapon after being imported in large numbers from eastern Europe. The new gangs, which are loosely or barely organised, include Balkan criminals and youths from immigrant housing estates and gypsy travellers' camps. Two men were shot dead and two badly wounded in one shooting at a travellers' camp last July. Over a dozen died in drug trade killings last year.
Gunmen armed with an assault rifle and other weapons killed three men and wounded two others in Marseilles today in the worst ambush in recent gang wars among drug dealers of gypsy origin. Attackers armed with a Kalashnikov and up to three heavy pistols ambushed the victims' Peugeot in a rough district in the north of the port city shortly after midnight. More than 40 bullets struck the car and the driver was hit 15 times by shots fired from very close range. One of the wounded was found lying on a nearby railway track with critical chest wounds, while the other was taken to hospital by a friend. The victims, who were apparently unarmed, were ambushed when the other vehicle drew alongside their car while it was stopped at a traffic light in a deserted area. Police assumed that the massacre was prompted by a drug transaction that went wrong. A 250 gram (8.8 ounce) cake of cannabis resin was found at the scene. The five were described as aged 26 to 31 and from semi-permanent camps of travellers which have spread up around the Marseilles area over the past decade. Police have rounded up dozens in raids on the camps in recent weeks but they are struggling to deal with an underworld culture that practises extreme violence. The old Mafia-style gangs that used to rule Marseilles - including those involved in the 'French connection' drug operations of the 1970s - used to impose more discipline.

"The criminal police are working flat out on this new milieu," said Bernard Squarcini, who was Marseiles police chief until President Sarkozy appointed him chief of domestic intelligence last year. "We do not get the time to infiltrate a gang when it has already been decimated," he said. "In the days of Zampa and the Belgian (two notorious gangsters), there had to be a very serious reason for a fusillade. Now they multiply whenever this or that villain comes out of prison."

Jean-Claude Gaudin, the Mayor of Marseilles, insists that the overall crime rate in his city has remained relatively stable in recent years despite the rise in intra-gang violence. However, robbery jumped eight per cent there last year, in line with a surge in Paris and other big cities.

Read More

Fitzgerald Thomas, otherwise called ‘Chis’, of Doctor Bird Circle fatally shot after he engaged lawmen in a gun battle

36-year-old man was fatally shot after he engaged lawmen in a gun battle at Doctor Bird Circle, Aviary Housing Scheme, Old Harbour, St Catherine, yesterday. A semi-automatic pistol was seized in the incident.Dead is Fitzgerald Thomas, otherwise called ‘Chis’, of Doctor Bird Circle.Reports are that about 5:45 a.m., a team of police went to Thomas’ home to execute a warrant on him. On entering the premises, they were met with gunfire. The lawmen took evasive action and returned the fire. After the shooting subsided, the area was searched and Thomas found suffering from gunshot wounds. The weapon, a .45 Colt semi-automatic pistol, serial number 001722, with two .45 cartridges was taken from him. He was taken to the Spanish Town Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Read More

Personal possessions of the gangland criminals Kray twins raised more than £100,000 when they went under the hammer

Personal possessions of the gangland criminals raised more than £100,000 when they went under the hammer on Monday night.Two pairs of cufflinks fetched nearly £15,000, while a letter from the artist Francis Bacon to Ronnie sold for £7,400.
One buyer alone spent more than £50,000.Photographs signed by musicians Barbara Streisand and Mark Knopfler, actress Patsy Kensit and TV presenter Fern Britton, raised a total of £1,310.Other goods included a signed copy of comedian Norman Wisdom's autobiography, dedicated to Ronnie, clothes and poems by the brothers.Also among Chiswick Auctions's 160 lots to sell were Ronnie's revered oil paintings, popular with collectors.The notorious pair, who were jailed for life for the murder of Jack McVitie in 1969, dominated London's crime scene in the 1950s and 60s.
They went on to develop a cult-like status among the public and celebrities alike.
A spokesman for Chiswick Auctions William Rouse said: "It was extraordinary, and there's been an extraordinary group of people in the sale room."The interest has been phenomenal from the beginning."A solicitor's letter to Reggie Kray explaining his refusal for parole in May 1995 was included in the sale, making £600.
He was freed in 2000 aged 66 because of his deteriorating health, and died shortly afterwards.Ronnie Kray died in prison in 1995 aged 61.

Read More

Prescott Valley police arrested four members of two local street gangs Jan. 15 on charges of assault and participation in a criminal street gang

Prescott Valley police arrested four members of two local street gangs Jan. 15 on charges of assault and participation in a criminal street gang, police said in a press release issued Monday.The four juveniles were fighting outside when police arrested them after dispatchers received several calls from witnesses reporting the fight, police said. Police booked the young men into Yavapai County Juvenile Detention.On Jan. 22, police executed search warrants for five residences connected with the four arrested juveniles and also found illegal weapons in addition to evidence of participating in a street gang.Police officials have been investigating numerous acts of criminal damage graffiti throughout Prescott Valley for the past five months, the release said.During that time, police with search warrants located and confiscated various examples of gang graffiti.Police declined to release the names of the gangs, saying gang members want to get their gang's name in the media.
Police said they expect these types of gang crimes to happen again because gang graffiti is an ongoing problem in the area.

Read More

Vivian Blake, the man who is said to have operated one of the world's most powerful criminal networks may be on Jamaican soil by the end of this week

Vivian Blake, the man who is said to have operated one of the world's most powerful criminal networks may be on Jamaican soil by the end of this week.The infamous shower posse head was released from the confines of prison in the first week of January. Since then preparations have been made for his return to Jamaica. Blake's Attorney David Rowe told RJR News on Monday morning the arrangements for his return are now complete. However, he was unable to reveal the scheduled date of Blake's return because of a bilateral secrecy agreement. "The arrangements are now complete between US Homeland Security and the Government of Jamaica for Mr. Vivian Blake to be repatriated to Jamaica. The precise date is still going to be confidential but all parties have completed their arrangements and his repatriation is eminent," said Mr. Rowe. The former Tivoli Gardens strongman was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison in June 2000 in a Miami Federal Court.He served just nine years of that sentence after turning state's evidence.He had been indicted there 12 years earlier, but fled to Jamaica where he had been hiding until his capture.
He and other members of the Shower Posse were given lengthy sentences based on 52 charges brought by federal prosecutors.These included racketeering, smuggling and distributing marijuana and cocaine from the Bahamas through the United States.
His sentence was shortened after entering a plea deal with US prosecutors.The Shower Posse was implicated in the murders of more than 1,400 persons in the US.US agents said the Posse operated lucrative illegal drug rings in Miami, New York City, Philadelphia and Virginia.Blake was featured on the US Black Entertainment Television's crime series, American Gangster last year.

Read More

Limerick gangs have escalated the gang war after a series of arson attacks in which four vehicles have been destroyed.

Limerick criminal gangs have escalated after a series of arson attacks in which four vehicles have been destroyed.Just a month before Christy Keane -- a leading crime figure in the Keane gang -- is released from prison, gardai in the city are on high alert after arson attacks on vehicles belonging to four of his relatives.The 48-year-old is due to be freed from the Midlands prison in mid-February and the feud, which was just beginning when he was jailed in 2001, shows no sign of cooling on the eve of his release.Last year, chief executive of Limerick's regeneration agencies, Brendan Kenny, tried to initiate peace talks following a lull in the feud, but it is clear that old wounds continue to fester following a succession of arson attacks in St Mary's Park last weekend.On Sunday night, a 2008-registered Range Rover was found burnt out following an attack in the coal yard where it was parked. The vehicle, owned by Keane's nephew, Owen Treacy, is estimated to have been worth over €70,000
Treacy was abducted with his uncle, Kieran Keane, in 2003 by the McCarthy-Dundon gang. His uncle was shot dead while Treacy was stabbed repeatedly.Treacy's sisters' car, a Peugeot 306, has also been burned out.Also at the weekend, the 2005-registered Volkswagen Passat belonging to a family member was destroyed.Arsonists also gutted the 2004-registered Toyota Avensis belonging to a female member of the family. The damage to the vehicles is in excess of €100,000, but it is the repercussions that may be inflicted upon the culprits that worry authorities most in Limerick. As far as officers are concerned, the arson attacks are a direct message to the original crime chief of Limerick gangs that his enemies are ready and waiting for his release.Christy Keane (48), who comes out of prison a grandfather, will have to return to jail if he wants to see his only son, Liam, who was yesterday jailed for the same period his father received -- 10 years.

Liam Keane was arrested last May after driving a stolen car with a loaded Glock handgun which had been used to shoot McCarthy-Dundon gang member, Jimmy Collins less than a fortnight beforehand.

When interviewed by gardai, Liam Keane was asked why did the gangs hate each other so much and replied: "That's life, that's the way it goes."Liam Keane told officers he picked the gun up in a field, "out the Ballysimon way", and had it because of the way his uncle, Kieran Keane, ended up.Already some of Christy Keane's closest neighbours are fearing his release and have sold their homes. Fine Gael councillor Diarmuid Scully told a meeting of Limerick City Council's economic and planning committee that two homes in Lynwood Park, Singland, have been sold by residents ahead of Christy Keane's return.
Mr Scully urged the Criminal Assets Bureau to examine whether the home was bought with the proceeds of crime.On top of this, detectives in the city this week uncovered further links between some of country's most dangerous criminals and the Keane and Collopy gangs based in St Mary's Park with the arrest of a major convicted criminal from Dublin.

Read More

Street gang member who supplied the handgun used in the fatal shooting of a Shirley Avenue teenager last summer was sentenced today

Street gang member who supplied the handgun used in the fatal shooting of a Shirley Avenue teenager last summer was sentenced today to the next ten years in state prison."This is another consequence of people having guns who should not have them," State Supreme Court Justice Penny M. Wolfgang told Dijon Thomas, 18, in a courtroom filled with friends and relatives of the slain Jermain Martin/

Rayshonne Stevens, the mother of the victim who was gunned down at Bailey and Stockbridge avenues June 7, stressed that her son was not a gang member.

Ms. Stevens told Thomas "a higher power will judge you and you will pay.""I would like to take this moment to apologize," said Thomas, who pleaded guilty Oct. 28 to a first-degree manslaughter charge and has been in custody.
Thomas, who had been a friend of victim, told the judge he could not personally shoot his friend over a street fight but "in God's eyes I'm still guilty."
Gerald "Nana" Gibson, 18, faces sentencing March 16 after pleading guilty in December to first-degree manslaughter plea for shooting the victim in retaliation over a street fight, according to James F. Bargnesi, chief of the Erie County District Attorney's Homicide Bureau.Gibson, of Alexander Avenue, Cheektowaga, has been in custody since his arrest in Pittsburgh as he was about to board a bus for Las Vegas two weeks after the early evening fatal shooting.

Read More

Jamie Bacon alleged member of the Red Scorpion gang appears to be the intended target of an afternoon shootout in Abbotsford.

Jamie Bacon, 23, was wearing body armour when gunmen in another car opened fire on his black Mercedes at the corner of South Fraser Way and Sumas Way about 3:50 p.m., hitting the leased luxury sedan several times.

Jamie Bacon alleged member of the Red Scorpion gang appears to be the intended target of an afternoon shootout in Abbotsford. Around 4:00 pm Tuesday, police received several reports of gunfire near the intersection of South Fraser Way and Sumas Way. Witnesses reported two cars firing at each another. When officers arrived on scene they found one of the cars involved, a black Mercedes, had crashed into a concrete stairway leading to a Keg restaurant. Police say the intended target is well known to them and was wearing body armour. He was not seriously injured. Police won't confirm reports the man driving the car was known gang member Jamie Bacon.
Police questioned the driver before releasing him and are still looking for the passengers of the other car. The Bacon brothers -- Jamie, Jarrod and Jonathan -- are all well known to police. In 2006, Jonathan, the oldest brother, was shot several times outside the family's Abbotsford home on Strathcona Court. No charges have been laid in connection with the shooting. In 2008, police took the unusual step of setting up a 24-hour surveillance camera to monitor the house after death threats were made against their family by rival gangs.The youngest of a trio of notorious Abbotsford brothers narrowly escaped death Tuesday after his vehicle was targeted in a wild rush-hour shooting at a busy Abbotsford intersection.One bullet hit another car that happened to be passing, though no one was injured, Abbotsford police Const. Casey Vinet confirmed.Const. Vinet said it is amazing no one was hurt in the brazen shooting.

"We are concerned about the public nature of this shooting," he said. "It is intolerable...somebody could have easily been injured."

"There is a public safety issue absolutely," he said. "It is one of the main thoroughfares. At 10 to four in the afternoon, there would have been a fair bit of traffic coming and going."Abbotsford Mayor George Peary said he was in a police board meeting when he learned of the shooting, near a strip mall that houses a popular Save-On Foods. The public gunplay is extremely troubling, said Mr. Peary.
"It is a matter of great concern to myself and our citizens," he said. "This family of three boys seem intent on wreaking havoc."He pointed to the extraordinary public warning issued by the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force last May saying the Bacons were targets of death threats and anyone near them could get caught in the crossfire.
"It's frustrating because among our citizens, public safety is a very high priority," Mr. Peary said. "They want to be safe as they move about the community and of course, with bullets flying, there is trepidation." He said the police are doing everything they can to control the violence, including camera surveillance on the Bacon family home on Strathcona Crescent in Abbotsford."They are policed as much as possible," he said, adding he will get a full briefing from police on the incident, likely today.

Jamie Bacon, who is facing a series of gun and drug charges, was briefly detained after the shooting but is not cooperating with investigators. He was later released.

The Mercedes, which was riddled with bullet-holes, was found a few blocks from where the shooting occurred, crashed into the concrete stairs in front of a Keg restaurant. Mr. Bacon had apparently bailed out of the car to flee his attackers.Vinet said he could not identify the intended shooting target, but The Sun has learned it was Jamie, who with middle brother Jarrod is facing 24 firearms and drug counts laid last May 31 -- the same day as the police warning was issued.
"We do have a male well-known to us being questioned," Const. Vinet said before Bacon was released. As one of his bail conditions, Mr. Bacon must live at his parents' Strathcona Court home, where shootings occurred in 2002 and 2006. Eldest brother Jonathan was nearly killed in the 2006 shooting.A Surrey shooting in 2007 also targeted the brothers.Just last Friday, Jamie and his two brothers, as well as an associate, were stopped by Abbotsford Police at the busy Sevenoaks Mall after mall security thought one of them had a gun. No weapon was found, but one of the brothers was wearing body armour.The brothers, who are closely aligned to the Red Scorpion gang, have been the target of death threats by rivals in the United Nations gang. Just three weeks ago, an associate named Dennis Karbovanec was wounded in a New Year's Eve shooting.

Read More

Colin and Dean McCaffrey, aged 24 and 22, were each jailed for 14 years at Sheffield Crown Court after admitting conspiracy to rob UK Bullion

Colin and Dean McCaffrey, aged 24 and 22, were each jailed for 14 years at Sheffield Crown Court after admitting conspiracy to rob UK Bullion on Ecclesall Road in July 2007.Now the pair – described as the ringleaders of the raid – have had their sentences slashed to 10 years each, meaning they will be automatically released after five years when they have served half of their term.Lord Justice Moses, sitting in London's Appeal Court with Mr Justice Pitchford and Mr Justice Griffith Williams, said the brothers had been involved in a "meticulously planned robbery" which had netted an enormous amount of jewellery.The brothers, from Manchester, were part of an organised crime gang which travelled from Manchester to stake out the jewellery store before ramming the shutters with a Toyota Corolla in broad daylight and reversing at speed.Wearing white boiler suits and balaclavas, they burst inside, wielding claw hammers, crow bars and an axe. They smashed all the display cabinets and snatched valuables from the safe.Some employees managed to flee upstairs but others were forced to lie on the floor throughout the terrifying ordeal and one female shop assistant was threatened with an axe.After ransacking the shop in just 60 seconds and stealing watches and diamonds, they sped away in a black Audi, then transferred to other vehicles.But witnesses saw the men passing the gems between vehicles and they were arrested in Manchester the following day.Colin and Dean, described in court as "ringleaders", were caught through a combination of forensic examination work, the monitoring of hours of CCTV footage, number plate recognition systems and mobile phone analysis.Almost the entire stock taken but only £127,000 worth of jewellery was recovered by police. They dropped some jewellery as they fled and earrings worth £6,000 were found in a raid on a house in Merseyside.Lord Justice Moses allowed the appeal which was made on the grounds insufficient credit had been given for the brothers' young age and guilty pleas.

Read More

latest victim of the drugs boss was Michael 'Roly' Cronin

latest victim of the drugs boss was Michael 'Roly' Cronin, who had fallen foul of the gangster in a dispute over money.Cronin (35), and one of his associates, James Maloney, whose funeral took place yesterday, were both shot in the head in the front seats of their English-registered car by a gunman who was known to them and who had been sitting in the back of the vehicle.Gardai say the prime suspect for the shooting has not been seen since the killings. They are awaiting the outcome of detailed forensic tests on the murder weapon, a .357 Magnum and clothing dumped by the gunman as he made his escape on foot through Gloucester Place.Meanwhile, four of the five people arrested on Thursday by gardai investigating the double murder were still being held last night at the Bridewell, Coolock and Store Street garda stationsThe three women and one man were all detained at their homes in the north inner city. A second man was released yesterday without charge.Gardai have foiled a suspected 'hit' on a major gangland figure after intercepting a car in north Dublin.
The intended victim, officers believe, is the leader of one of the biggest crime gangs in the capital -- and is alleged to be responsible for ordering the double murder in the north inner city last week.He has been blamed for masterminding at least three murders since he took control of the drug-trafficking empire that was left leaderless after the shooting of Martin 'Marlo' Hyland at a relative's house in Scribblestown Park, Finglas, in December 2006.Uniformed gardai were on patrol in the Dunsoghly area of Finglas on Thursday night when they noticed a car being driven in a suspicious manner.The gardai followed the car, which then sped off into the Dunsoghly estate, off the Ratoath Road, where the gardai saw one of the two occupants throw an object over a wall and into the garden of a house.The gardai intercepted the car at Cappagh Road and detained two men, aged 30 and 27. One of the men is from Finglas and is associated with the victim of one of the murders alleged to have ordered by the gang boss. The second man is from the Oriel Street area of the north inner city.After a search of the garden, gardai recovered a loaded pump-action shotgun. Inquiries established that the shotgun had been stolen in a burglary in Drogheda.Last night, the two men were being held in Finglas and Blanchardstown garda stations under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. They can be detained without charge for a maximum of three days.Gardai say the drugs gang boss and one of his accomplices have addresses in that part of Finglas and they believe the shotgun was to have been used in an attack.

Read More

GANGSTER Dave Courtney has avoided a prison sentence after a Bristol judge heard the criminal turned-author had taken a new direction in life

Reformed GANGSTER Dave Courtney has avoided a prison sentence after a Bristol judge heard the criminal turned-author had taken a new direction in life.
Courtney, 49, author of a number of best-selling true crime books, appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday afternoon to admit a charge of possessing ammunition - a single bullet – without a firearms certificate.
But after Judge Ticehurst heard Courtney, from Plumstead, south London, had the round in his possession for a prop in a stage show, in which he encourages wayward youths to keep on the straight and narrow, he let him off with an 18-month conditional discharge.
Courtney, who claims to have had links with notorious criminal siblings the Kray brothers, has a long list of antecedents including affray and theft – all of which are chronicled in his numerous books.
But Courtney's counsel Donal McGuire told the judge his client, who has also starred in various movies and documentaries, now spends his days raising cash for community centres and lecturing would-be crooks with his mantra "crime doesn't pay".
Prosecutor Simon Morgan told the court Courtney was pulled over by police on October 29, 2007, in Lewins Mead, in the city centre, because the red BMW he was in had the illegal licence plate BADBOY1.
Officers searched Courtney and his vehicle and found the live ammo in his pocket, as well as a number of other prop weapons in the boot.
Mr Morgan said: "He told officers it was for a show. He displayed these as part of his performance. He was taken straight into custody where he said it was blank ammunition.
"He was extremely surprised to learn it was in fact live ammo. The officer tells me his surprise was in fact very genuine.
"But the simple point is, a man with his record, he should know better."

Read More

John A. "Junior" Gotti should remain behind bars while he awaits trial on charges he was involved in three gangland murders and cocaine trafficking.

New York City judge says John A. "Junior" Gotti should remain behind bars while he awaits trial on charges he was involved in three gangland murders and cocaine trafficking.Manhattan Judge Kevin Castel ruled Thursday against a defense motion asking that Gotti be freed on bail so he could help prepare his defense. The government had argued the 44-year-old defendant is a risk to the public.Gotti is the son of the late Gambino crime family boss John Gotti. He was arrested last year on a racketeering indictment brought against him in Tampa, Fla.The case was later transferred to New York.Gotti's lawyers say prosecutors indicted him with old evidence that has not worked at three previous trials that ended with hung juries.

Read More

Disgraced ex-FBI agent John Connolly Jr. "crossed over to the dark side,"

Disgraced ex-FBI agent John Connolly Jr. "crossed over to the dark side," said Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Stanford Blake. The sentence will run consecutively to a 10-year racketeering sentence.Connolly, 68, was convicted in November of second-degree murder in the death of businessman John Callahan, an executive with World Jai-Alai. Callahan's bullet-riddled body was found in the trunk of a Cadillac parked at Miami International Airport.Connolly's fall from celebrated mob-buster to paid gangland flunky captivated a South Florida courtroom for weeks. In testimony at his sentencing hearing last month, he denied having any role in Callahan's death."It's heartbreaking to hear what happened to your father and to your husband," he told members of Callahan's family. "My heart is broken when I hear what you say."
He explained, in the face of vigorous cross-examination, that rubbing elbows with killers and gangsters and winning their confidence was part of his job. His attorney argued that Connolly did what the FBI wanted him to do, and now was being held responsible.Connolly did not testify at his trial.Prosecutors had asked that Connolly be given a life sentence, saying the 30-year minimum was not enough because Connolly abused his badge. In a Boston Globe interview published last month, however, Connolly vigorously denied being a corrupt agent."I did not commit these crimes I was charged with," Connolly told the newspaper. "I never sold my badge. I never took anybody's money. I never caused anybody to be hurt, at least not knowingly, and I never would."During his two-month trial, jurors heard that Connolly told his mob connections that Callahan, 45, was a potential witness against them, setting him up for the gangland-style slaying.According to testimony, Connolly was absorbed by the very gangsters he was supposed to be targeting -- members of South Boston's notorious Winter Hill gang. His story was said to be the inspiration for the character played by Matt Damon in the 2006 Martin Scorsese movie, "The Departed."
Connolly's tale was closely followed in New England, where he grew up in Boston's "Southie" neighborhood, the same area long dominated by the Winter Hill gang and its notorious leader, James "Whitey" Bulger. Sought in 19 slayings, Bulger is the FBI's second most-wanted fugitive.During the first two decades of his FBI career, Connolly won kudos in the bureau's Boston office, cultivating informants against New England mobsters. Prosecutors said Connolly was corrupted by his two highest-ranking snitches: Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi.Connolly retired from the FBI in 1990 and later was indicted on federal racketeering and other charges stemming from his long relationship with Bulger and Flemmi. He was convicted of racketeering in 2002 and was serving a 10-year federal prison sentence when he was indicted in 2005 in the Callahan slaying.During testimony, jurors heard that Connolly was on the mob payroll, collecting $235,000 from Bulger and Flemmi while shielding his mob pals from prosecution and leaking the identities of informants.The prosecution's star witnesses at the Miami trial were Flemmi, who is now in prison, and mob hit man John Martorano, who has admitted to 20 murders, served 12 years in prison and is now free.Callahan, who often socialized with gangsters, had asked the gang to execute Oklahoma businessman Roger Wheeler over a business dispute, according to testimony. Martorano killed Wheeler in 1981 on a golf course, shooting him once between the eyes, prosecutors said.After Connolly told Bulger and Flemmi that Callahan was going to implicate them in the slaying, Martorano was sent to do away with Callahan, prosecutors said.But one star witness did not testify -- the former FBI agent who inspired the 1997 film "Donnie Brasco." He refused to take the stand after the judge denied his request to testify anonymously.

Read More

Three young men have died, and police say the rivalry between Bloods and Crips is mounting.

Some who lived through it recall the height of the city's gang violence in the 1980s and 1990s."I have actual gang members saying, 'This is bad out here,' " Michael Johnson, a former Crip, told The Oregonian newspaper.In response, pastors at funerals are appealing from the pulpit to gang members to end the shooting. Police are paying overtime to put more officers on the street.Probation officers are making more contacts with gang offenders on supervision and mapping out safety plans for those who may be targets. Outreach workers are staying visible on the streets and are lobbying to keep their programs going.Dan Saltzman, Portland's new police commissioner, promised to press the City Council to maintain gang outreach programs and to try to keep local community centers open late with programs aimed at teenagers."We don't want to wait for the shootings and just try to arrest people afterward," he told the paper. "There's just a lot of different tacks we have to take."Although the city's homicide rate and overall crime rate are down, gang violence has increased sharply over the past year, police say.They say they identified more than 150 new gang members and seized 112 firearms from gang members in 2008, about one-eighth of all the guns they seized in the year.On Dec. 12, Darshawn Cross, 31, collapsed from multiple gunshots during a funeral in the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church.Police say near-daily shootings followed, with bullets flying in drive-by shootings, during car chases, outside busy malls and theaters and into homes.On New Year's Eve, two 18-year-olds were killed at a Gresham apartment complex. One, Willy Butler, was a half brother of the man accused of shooting Cross."We have a crisis," said Lt. Mike Leloff of Portland's gang enforcement unit.

Read More

$5 million civil judgment against the 5th Hill Gang and 11 named members

"The 5th & Hill Gang has long been heavily involved in the sale of heroin in downtown Los Angeles, and we know they have profited from these illegal activities," said City Attorney Delgadillo, who several weeks ago filed a similar action against the 18th Street gang. "We are going to work aggressively with our Federal, State, and local partners to locate and collect their assets - and every penny we strip away from these criminals will be returned to the neighborhoods they have tormented."$5 million civil judgment against the 5th & Hill Gang and 11 named members as part of a permanent injunction restricting the criminal activity of the gang and its narcotics associates in the historic core of the City´s downtown area. This civil judgment is the first ever obtained against a criminal street gang.Approved by L.A. Superior Court, the permanent gang injunction severely restricts the ability of the gang to commit criminal and nuisance activity, including the sale of heroin and other narcotics within the established downtown Safety Zone as defined within the boundaries of 2nd Street to the north, San Pedro Street to the east, 9th Street to the south and Olive Street to the west. At the core of the Safety Zone is the northeast corner of Pershing Square, at which 5th and Hill Streets converge.
Terms of the permanent injunction include many of the standard gang injunction provisions, including limiting the gang´s ability to associate in public with other members, intimidate witnesses, to sell or possess drugs, or to possess weapons or graffiti tools. A unique provision of the injunction makes the gang injunction effective, not only against gang members, but also against the gang´s "Heroin Sales Associates" - defined as anyone arrested twice for possession for sale, or sales where the alleged controlled substance was heroin, and the arrest occurred within the established Safety Zone. This new provision was sought by city prosecutors because 5th & Hill Gang members attempt to insulate themselves from criminal liability by using non-gang members to move their product on the street."The Fifth and Hill Gang injunction and now the first ever civil judgment of its type, are evidence of a healthy prevention-focused partnership between the community and different components of the criminal justice system," said LAPD Chief William Bratton. "We will use these tools judiciously to improve safety and to help dismantle violent gangs." In addition to granting a permanent gang injunction, the Court also awarded $4,200,000 in civil damages against the 5th and Hill gang as well as gang members Jesus Barcenas, Everado Bautista, Adolfo Catala, Alejandro Delatorre, Jesus Gonzalez, Carlos Hernandez, Juan Bautista Osorio, Carlos Quiroz, Marco Rivera, Gustavo Roman, Jr., and Cesar Tovar. The Court also awarded an additional $857,500 in civil penalties against the gang and the named members for their violations of the State´s Business and Professions Code Section 17200.
"Because of our innovative and creative solutions to the gang problem.like the City Attorney´s new civil damages actions - we´re making Los Angeles one of the safest big cities in America," said L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti. "I look forward to working with City Attorney Delgadillo to ensure that any money he recovers is distributed to the communities damaged by these gangs, as quickly as possible." "I want to congratulate the City Attorney for thinking outside of the box to bring down this opportunistic street gang," said Councilmember José Huizar. "And I´m happy to hear that the gang´s drug profits made off of the misery of others is going to be returned to the communities they originated in to do some real good."
The injunction - prosecuted by Gang Division Deputy Jim McDougal - includes more than 400 pages of declarations from law enforcement officials regarding the long-standing criminal activity of the 5th & Hill Gang located within the historic core of downtown Los Angeles, as well as declarations submitted on behalf of the local Business Improvement Districts regarding the economic harm caused by the 5th & Hill Gang.

The 5th & Hill Gang is known to have a monopoly on heroin sales in downtown Los Angeles. A vast majority of crimes committed within the Safety Zone, including graffiti and assaults, are related to heroin sales business conducted by the gang.
The City Attorney sought a preliminary gang injunction against the 5th & Hill Gang in November 2007, and the preliminary injunction was granted in February 2008. As part of the original filing, City Attorney Delgadillo´s prosecutors included an additional Cause of Action pursuant to penal code Section 186.22 a(c) seeking damages using the 2007 Amendments to the STEP Act signed into law by the Governor. That amendment expanded existing law to provide prosecuting City Attorneys and District Attorneys with the authority to seek damages against gang members under injunction, and to collect from them assets acquired from their criminal activity. "This is exactly the kind of anti-gang impact that we hoped to see with the passage of SB 271 and SB 1126," Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said."By giving prosecutors more tools to fight gang activity at the local level, we are protecting our communities at the same time we're able to strengthen our statewide anti-gang efforts."The December 2008 filing against members of the 18th Street gang was a stand-alone damages action filed pursuant to the 2008 Amendments to penal code Section 186.22 a(c), and was the first to make use of the passage of SB1126 which authorized prosecutors to collect damages from any assets the named gang members have to satisfy the judgment, whether or not a direct link is established between the criminal conduct and the asset. Since taking office in July 2001, City Attorney Delgadillo has increased the number of gang injunctions from eight to 40, covering more than 65 gangs and more than 61 square miles of claimed gang territory in Los Angeles. In addition, LAPD reports cite a 33 percent decline in gang membership since 2001, and a 25 percent reduction in gang crime since 2002.

Read More

Marlo "Bow Wow" Jones aka "Bow Wow" was arrested Friday after a January 5th incident where a Bone Thugs-n-Harmony member was robbed and beaten

Marlo "Bow Wow" Jones aka "Bow Wow" was arrested Friday after a January 5th incident where a Bone Thugs-n-Harmony member was robbed and beaten in Universal City. Marlo "Bow Wow" Jones, 30, was driving Saturday morning when officers identified his vehicle as being used in a robbery earlier in the week. "Bow Wow" was arrested around 8:50 a.m. and taken into custody downtown where he is being held lieu of a $1,160,396.00 bail. In a profile last year about USC coach Pete Caroll's do gooding activities, "Bow Wow" is featured as someone trying to make a change in his life: "Marlo 'Bow Wow' Jones is an ex-gangster, a guy who by his account has spent seven of his 29 years in jail, now working to turn his life around.On January 5th, Byron McCane, or Bizzy Bone as he's known from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, returned to his hotel room at the Universal Hilton where he "was confronted by a group of suspects, including two females," an LAPD release stated. "The male suspects beat and choked the victim" before taking jewelry that he was wearing and storming the room looking for more. Meanwhile, "Bow Wow" was immediately terminated from Unity One, the contractor with the City of Los Angeles gang intervention program. "Unity One was founded after the 1992 Los Angeles riots by Darren “Bo” Taylor, a former gang member who became a peacekeeper respected by street toughs as well as by law enforcement and community activists struggling to reduce inner-city violence," the LA Times found.

Read More

Pedro Sanz,well-known Calgary gangster is cooling his heels in jail after breaching curfew.

Pedro Sanz, well-known Calgary gangster is cooling his heels in jail after breaching curfew.Police were investigating a shooting in the community of Dover last night. CPS Spokesperson Kevin Brookwell says they came upon the man partially by chance.
Police were looking for a black car in relation to the shooting when they noticed another car with a person in it that they recognized. They stopped that car and arrested Pedro Sanz, who was wearing body armour at the time.

Read More

Murder of Roly Cronin who had been involved in the drugs trade imminent arrests.

Murder of Roly Cronin had been involved in the drugs trade since his teens, and he received a 13-year sentence for possession of heroin in 1996. He enjoyed the usual trappings of drugs wealth -- expensive holidays, upmarket cars and a generally lavish lifestyle.
He lived with his partner and child in Buckingham Street, a short distance from where he died, for a number of years but had moved to Finglas last year, apparently after running into trouble with other drug dealers in the north inner city.GARDAI have obtained crucial DNA evidence from the Magnum pistol used in the killing of Michael ‘Roly' Cronin and his driver. Officers are expected to swoop on the chief suspect for the double murder in the coming days in an effort to match his DNA to the sample recovered from the powerful pistol used in the shooting. Dozens of officers are this weekend hunting the man in his 30s they suspect of the hit - an associate of drug boss Cronin's from the north inner city. The second man shot in the incident, James Moloney, from Poppintree in Ballymun, died yesterday afternoon from his injuries. He had been on life support at St James's Hospital since being shot twice in the head as he sat beside Cronin. A breakthrough in the case occurred last night when preliminary forensic tests on the gun yielded a DNA sample, which gardai believe belongs to the killer. A source told the Herald: "It's a key piece of evidence and the next step is obviously to match it to the hitman.
"We have a chief suspect and we are trying to locate him this weekend. But we're keeping an open mind and there'll be a few other people we'll need to speak to as well. "The case is progressing slowly but surely. Given the nature of DNA analysis, it could take four to six weeks to get a full match." The main suspect is known to gardai and was friendly with Cronin in the past, and officers believe that this friendship explains why the gang boss allowed him into his car at Langrishe Place, off Summerhill, last Wednesday night. As the black Volvo S40 drove off, the gunman fired one shot at Cronin and two at Moloney before fleeing. He dropped the murder weapon, a Magnum .357, under a car at Gloucester Place, and also discarded a black jacket and gloves nearby -- all of which have been recovered by gardai. Forensic tests are continuing on the jacket and gloves, and gardai are hopeful of obtaining DNA from one if not both pieces of evidence. The source added: "It's rare that a hitman would leave so much evidence at the scene. He was obviously panicking as he ran from the car on Summerhill down into Gloucester Place." Moloney, in his 20s, was an associate of Cronin's. He was originally from Poppintree, but more recently lived at Braithwaite Street in the south inner city. He had been on life support since the shooting last Wednesday but a decision was made yesterday to switch off the machine.
While Cronin was a major drug trafficker, Moloney had no criminal convictions. Moloney had been warned in recent weeks there was a hit out on his boss and told to stop working for him. The remains of Cronin, who was originally from Ballymun but had also lived in the north inner city and Finglas, will be released for burial in the coming days. The dad of one was released from prison four years ago, after serving a 10-year sentence for drugs possession. After his release from jail, he aligned himself to Marlo Hyland's Finglas-based crime gang, while also running his own business in areas from Ballymun to Poppintree. Officers are examining a number of motives for Cronin's killing, but the chief line of inquiry is that he fell out with other criminals in the north inner city over cash owed for drugs. Gardai in the city divisions on both sides of the Liffey expressed concern last week that the new young gangs, aged mainly in their late teens and early 20s, are causing a great deal of trouble. They are putting intense pressure on their younger teenage street dealers and any drug seizures by gardai or losses of earnings are punished with severe violence. These gangs are mainly involved in heroin dealing. They are also unafraid of the established, older gang figures in the city.
Senior sources also said that with cutbacks on the garda budgets, there are strict controls on overtime, with detectives being made to work general office hours which is curtailing murder investigations. They also claimed that there appears to be relatively little interest expressed in the gangland crime from senior garda management. One pointed out that while three very senior gardai attended the investigation of one very high profile "domestic" murder last year, none has been seen near any of the ordinary gangland murder scenes or other less high profile killings in the city

Read More

Outbreak of gangland violence after two murders and at least three attempted murders in the opening week of the New Year.

Outbreak of gangland violence after two murders and at least three attempted murders in the opening week of the New Year.The long-running feud between two gangs in the south inner city is fully expected to flare up after members of the two gangs bumped into each other in a city-centre take-away in the early hours of January 3. One man was struck on the head with a hammer and then repeatedly kicked in the head as he lay senseless on the floor. The victim is still in hospital and it is not yet known if his injuries will cause permanent brain damage.Shortly before that attack, a gunman called at a flat in Pearse Street, pointed a gun at a man who answered the door and pulled the trigger. The gun failed to fire. Gardai said the victim was an entirely innocent person and they believe it was a case of mistaken identity. They have yet to find the intended victim.Then, within the space of two hours on Wednesday evening last, two men were murdered in central Dublin and another shot and severely wounded at a house in Kinsealy in north Dublin. The Kinsealy victim is expected to recover, despite being shot in the chest and neck.Gardai admitted last week that they are uncertain as to why gangland violence has flared again in the city. Despite an amount of conjecture, gardai do not know the reasons for the murders of Michael 'Roly' Cronin, 35, and his associate James Moloney, 26, a man with no known serious criminal involvement, in Summerhill in the south inner city at 8.40pm last Wednesday. While it was known that Cronin was at odds with other drug dealers in the Finglas, Coolock and Blanchardstown areas, it was not clear why he was back in his old neighbourhood in Summerhill in the north inner city where other gangs control the drugs -- particularly heroin -- supply in the city centre. Gardai have a firm suspect for the double murder, a man in his early 20s from the north inner city area, described as a relatively minor gangland figure. The gunman was in the back seat of Cronin's car as it pulled into Langrishe Place off Summerhill. He apparently shot Cronin, who was driving, in the head, and the car crashed into a barrier. He then turned the gun on Moloney, shooting him twice in the head.
Two hours after the double killing, a gunman forced his way into a house in Drynam Drive about six miles away in Kinsealy, then rampaged through the house looking for his 29-year-old victim. A young woman visiting the house with her baby was cornered in a bathroom where the gunman pointed his gun at her. His victim was hiding in a bedroom barring the door and the gunman fired through it, hitting him twice. It is believed that a drug gang from the Coolock and Darndale area was behind the attack, which is not thought to be linked with the shooting in the north inner city.Senior garda sources said last week that while they were anticipating violence in the Finglas and other north-western areas of the city, the double killing in the north inner city and the rekindling of the south-city feud are worrying developments.
As it does every few years, the character of the gangland scene in Dublin is changing, and younger, and, according to gardai, more ruthless gangs are yet again emerging.

Read More

Timothy McGhee Gang leader described by police as a thrill-killer sentenced to death

Gang leader described by police as a thrill-killer was sentenced to death Friday for murdering gang rivals and trying to kill police officers.
Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry agreed with the recommendation of the jury that 35-year-old Timothy McGhee should be put to death. The judge said McGhee's crimes were unprovoked and showed no consideration for human life. McGhee treated his crimes "as some kind of perverse sport, as if he were hunting human beings," Perry said. McGhee appeared in court surrounded by three deputies. Authorities said he was the highest-ranking gang member in the city's tough Atwater Village neighborhood. He was convicted in October 2007 of killing two gang rivals and a woman. Ronald Martin, 17, was shot 28 times as he sketched a picture along the Los Angeles River. Prosecutors said Ryan Gonzales, 16, was killed because he and McGhee had the same nickname—"Guero," which is Spanish for someone with light skin. Margie Mendoza, 25, was fatally shot while she was in a sports utility vehicle with her boyfriend.
The two police officers were led into gang territory and ambushed in 2000. They escaped injury after McGhee opened fire on their patrol car. Three other gang members have been convicted and sentenced in the crime. Jurors who convicted McGhee also upheld special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder to further the activities of a criminal street gang, which made him eligible for the death penalty. He previously received a sentence of 75 years to life for taking part in a riot at the downtown Men's Central Jail in January 2005. McGhee had been placed on the U.S. Marshals Service's most-wanted list before his February 2003 arrest in Bullhead City, Ariz. He's been in jail since then.

Read More

Victims, 34, 28, and 23, were walking or standing in the 100 block of James Street when the shooter emerged from an alley about 2:35 a.m. and fired

Three men were shot near Pioneer Square early Friday, one of two shootings investigate by Seattle police in the span of 30 minutes.The victims, 34, 28, and 23, were walking or standing in the 100 block of James Street when the shooter emerged from an alley about 2:35 a.m. and fired multiple blasts, police spokesman Mark Jamieson said.One of the victims' friends pulled him into the trunk of a car and drove him to Harborview Medical Center. The other two victims were treated by medics and taken by ambulance to the hospital, Jamieson said."We're still trying to sort it out. But it doesn't appear that this is a random thing," he said.Homicide and gang detectives were investigating and trying to identify suspects. No one has been arrested, Jamieson said.Police detained the driver who took the victim to the hospital, but it appears that person was a witness and not involved in the shooting, Jamieson said.About 30 minutes earlier, police were called to a University District bar, where patrons traded gunfire outside.No one has been arrested, but police found a handgun stashed in the wheel well of a vehicle parked outside the bar in the 5500 block of University Way Northeast. Officers also recovered four .40-caliber casings and one spent bullet, Seattle police reported. The gunmen exchanged gunfire in front of the bar and in an alley behind it. Police were unable to find suspects or any victims.

Read More

suspected gang member Robert Mayberry picked-up in Atlanta for distribution of heroin

Robert Mayberry picked-up in Atlanta for distribution of heroin. He'll have to come back to Cincinnati to face charges here. Police are taking a more aggressive approach to gang activity. They're hoping this latest arrest shows gang members even if they run, eventually police will catch them.Suspected members of a gang called the Taliband saw a show of force from police-- rounded up with cameras rolling. Officers hope it sends a message. "If you are out here involved in gang-related behavior not only will the individual that committed the offense be targeted, but that entire group will be targeted." Tuesday, the long arm of the law reached from Cincinnati to Atlanta and tapped suspected gang member Robert Mayberry on the shoulder. Police say the man who went by the name "One Eyed Kenny" in Avondale streets was picked up by U.S. Marshals. Officers credit a tip from Sofast and the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence program, called CIRV.
"It's a collaborative effort of not just Cincinnati police, but also federal marshals, prosecutors, probation officers. We're bringing in the whole gamut of law enforcement judges." Officers believe Mayberry was the head of the "Grimmie Gang". He fled Cincinnati when police arrested most of the gang about a year ago. Officers recently arrested suspected gang member Kenneth Milton and eight others for violent crimes in Kennedy Heights and Pleasant Ridge. The youngest member of the Coleridge Boys is actually an 11-year-old girl. "However, it definitely sends a message that we need to be doing more reaching out to the children in the community and letting them know that this is definitely not the path to go down." The 11-year-old suspected gang member is accused of breaking into a couple's home and threatening the homeowner with a gun in her waistband. Sergeant Danita Kilgore says in her experience finding a gang member that young is atypical.Numerous members of the Grimmie Gang have recently gone to trial for murder. Many of them agreed to plea deals that sent them to prison.

Read More

Miguel Angel Soto Parra, arrested on Wednesday in Mexico City, is a former police officer who was one of the earliest members of the Zetas

Miguel Angel Soto Parra, arrested on Wednesday in Mexico City, is a former police officer who was one of the earliest members of the Zetas, a group of hitmen made up largely of army deserters, a source at the attorney general's office said. President Felipe Calderon has scored a number of big arrests since he sent the army to crack down on drug gangs. But turf wars have spiraled out of control, with some 5,650 people killed last year, many of them tortured or beheaded. The Gulf cartel, which relies on the Zetas to settle scores with rival gangs, is one of Mexico's top smuggling groups, running Colombian cocaine into Texas via the border cities of Matamoros, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo, security officials say.

Read More

19-year-old Juan Vasquez was arrested early Friday on suspicion of killing two teenage boys.

El Paso County sheriff's Lt. Lari Sevene says 19-year-old Juan Vasquez was arrested early Friday on suspicion of killing two teenage boys. It wasn't immediately clear if Vasquez had an attorney. Investigators say a shooting east of Colorado Springs that left two people dead stemmed from a gang-related clash over a stolen iPod.Deputies responded to a report of a fight involving nearly two dozen people at about 4 p.m. Thursday near Cimarron Eastridge Park, and found at least one person performing CPR on a shooting victim.One person died at the scene. The second died at a hospital less than an hour later.The names of the victims have not been released, but Sevene says they attended Sierra High School and New Horizon School.

Read More

It’s been one of the last unsolved mysteries from the gangland career of John Gotti.

Whatever happened to the neighbor who accidentally ran over and killed the mobster’s John Gotti. 12-year-old son Frankie — and then vanished?The answer may be found in Brooklyn court papers filed this week by federal prosecutors.They say 51-year-old John Favara was shot to death on orders of the outraged Gambino crime family boss — and his body was dissolved in a vat of acid. Prosecutors say a cooperating witness has fingered a 62-year-old former mobster as the perpetrator in the 1980 affair. Charles Carneglia, an alleged mob soldier awaiting trial on five murders, made sure there was no body to be found by dissolving Favara’s remains with flesh-eating acid, which he kept by the drum in his basement, a government witness testified.“In a later discussion concerning his expertise at disposing of bodies for the Gambino family, which included a discussion of a book [Charles Carneglia] was reading on dismemberment, [Carneglia] informed another Gambino family associate that acid was the best method to use to avoid detection,” government prosecutors wrote in court papers.What happened to Favara has been the stuff of New York lore: In 2004, the federal agents dug up a lot in Queens on a tip that Favara’s remains were buried there. Most recently, the government believed his body was buried in vat of cement and dropped into Sheepshead Bay.

Read More

Chilling execution of Su'a, a former missionary and self-made contractor, at the hands of city gangsters

Chilling execution of Su'a, a former missionary and self-made contractor, at the hands of city gangsters embroiled in an ongoing rivalry took only seconds to unfold on New Year's Day.Su'a was drinking tea when gun-men burst inside the cafe. Shots were fired, hitting and killing two young men seated at the table next to Su'a. He scrambled to escape the restaurant unharmed, but came face to face with another gangster waiting outside. A few words were exchanged, shots rang out, and Su'a's body hit the pavement. He was killed instantly.Friends and loved ones say they are struggling with their anger at the gang-fuelled violence that claimed an innocent man. "It's important that people know what Keni stood for. What happened affects everyone in Calgary," close friend Tannis Keteca said.

Read More

Senior Cpl. Norman Smith,was shot in the head and taken to Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, where he was declared dead about an hour later.

Senior Cpl. Norman Smith, 43, was with about six other officers serving a felony warrant in the 4900 block of Wadsworth Drive. Smith knocked on the door of an apartment about 6:15 p.m. and came under fire almost immediately, police said.He was shot in the head and taken to Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, where he was declared dead about an hour later.Three suspects were taken into custody, police said. The men were being questioned and had not been identified.
Police Chief David Kunkle said the officers serving the warrant were attempting a "ruse to try to get the suspects to the door without announcing that they were police officers." "This was a high-risk situation," Kunkle said. "The officers were tactically well-positioned, but they were immediately met with gunfire."
Smith joined the department in 1991 and would have marked his 18th year on the force today. Smith had an extensive knowledge of Dallas' gangs and was described by Kunkle as one of the department's finest police officers."I would have thought he was invincible," Kunkle said Tuesday night, choking back emotion. "He was a great, great street officer. He had the heart of a warrior."Smith's death was believed to be the nation's first fatal shooting of an officer in the line of duty this year. He is the first Dallas officer shot to death in the line of duty since Mark Nix in 2007.
Lt. Sally Lannom, a former member of the gang unit, described Smith as a hard worker who knew his job well and would be sorely missed."It's a huge loss for the department and a huge loss for those of us who knew and loved Norm," Lannom said.
Smith was married to Dallas police Lt. Regina Smith. They met when Norman Smith was working at the Dallas County Jail."Norm was working there, and he came up to her and said, 'You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen,' " Kunkle said.Lannom said Smith was an expert on the gangs in the southern sector, where Tuesday's shooting occurred."He worked that area in patrol," she said. "He knew that area. It made sense when he came to the unit to become the expert on the gangs in that part of town."Kunkle said Smith "could go into the toughest neighborhoods and be respected."
On Tuesday, Smith and about six other gang-unit officers were in search of a violent felon at the Oak Wood Place Apartments, police said.Smith, flanked by two other officers, approached the door and knocked. Someone inside asked who was there, and Smith responded with a fake name, police officials said.When the suspected gunman opened the door, Smith yelled that they were the police, according to the preliminary investigation. The suspect then tried to close the door, and Smith pushed back. That's when he was shot.Officers returned fire, frantically trying to pull their fallen comrade out of the line of fire as the gunman opened the door and continued shooting. No one else was injured in the gunbattle.The three men inside the apartment then surrendered, one at a time, within minutes of the shooting.
Hours afterward, a SWAT unit remained at the scene, and police officers roamed the complex on the northeast corner of Wadsworth and Loop 12.Surrounded by a black wrought-iron gate, the apartment complex has long been known as a haven for drug and gang activity.In 1998, it was the scene of a gunbattle between police and drug suspects. Someone fired through an apartment wall, hitting Dallas police officer Edward Menchaca in the hip. A second police officer was grazed by a bullet.
The officers were investigating a tip that a drug deal was going on inside the apartment.Kunkle said Regina Smith, who works in his office, was devastated by the news, just as he was. "These are just people that I have tremendous love and affection for," he said. "They're all tough, but for me this is a really difficult situation."Built like a middle linebacker, Smith stood well over 6 feet tall and was known to be even-tempered, opinionated and even sentimental. Lannom said she was introduced to her husband by Smith. "I still remember Norm standing there all embarrassed, asking me if I wanted to go out with Jon," Lannom recalled. "I owe my husband to Norm."Lannom said Smith's mother is from Europe, and he spent a portion of his youth there. Before joining the Dallas police, Smith worked as a Kaufman County sheriff's deputy.The Smiths have two teenage children, a boy and a girl. Those who knew the couple well said they enjoyed antiquing, collecting fine china and traveling in their off-hours."They were just magical together," Kunkle said.

Read More

Reigo Janes, 27, listened to the case through an interpreter after admitting two counts of robbery and two of possessing an imitation firearm.

Reigo Janes, 27, listened to the case through an interpreter after admitting two counts of robbery and two of possessing an imitation firearm. The court heard he was one of four men to target Berry's in April 2006. He carried a hammer, two carried what are believed to be handguns and staff were said to be terrified.They fled with £335,000 worth of watches, including Rolexes, before dropping their weapons – ball bearing guns – at the door.Three months later Janes was part of a gang to target jewellers in Manchester. The raid lasted 29 seconds and yielded watches worth £230,000. They were hidden in a nearby bar toilet's suspended ceiling and picked up by another gang member.Janes was caught through DNA matches after West Yorkshire Police widened their hunt. He was brought back to the UK and admitted the crimes saying he was picked because he was homeless, in debt and had a criminal record. He was paid the equivalent of £3,500 for the Leeds robbery in Estonian kroon.
Sentencing him the recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC said: "I accept you were not the ringleader but you were an able and willing recruit. You did the dirty work."Speaking after the case Det Insp Lloyd Batley of West Yorkshire Police said: "We were the first force to make the link between the robberies and the gang in Estonia. The raids were meticulously planned and ruthlessly executed. They were in and out in seconds. Janes was sentenced to 12 years to run concurrently for the robberies and five years concurrently for firearms offences.

Read More

Smashed a dissident Republican cell which was selling weapons to Dublin crime gangs.

Smashed a dissident Republican cell which was selling weapons to Dublin crime gangs.
Five suspected members of the Continuity IRA remained in custody today after officers from the Special Detective Unit raided a number of properties in south County Dublin.Six replica handguns were seized in the operation, which was launched on Sunday night after SDU officers stopped and searched a car travelling through Tallaght.This was followed by a raid on an apartment in Loughlinstown, where the imitation firearms were recovered, along with more than 60 rounds of ammunition.
The guns can be converted to fire live rounds, and officers believe that the CIRA cell was planning to make the conversion and sell the weapons on to figures in Dublin's underworld.A leading member of the Dublin unit of the CIRA, in his 60s, was arrested after the guns were uncovered.Three younger men, all in their 20s, were also arrested. Detectives believe that these men were involved in moving the weapons.
A woman in her 20s, known to the men, has also been detained. All five are from the Ballybrack and Loughlinstown areas of south Dublin.All five people are being held at garda stations in Terenure, Blackrock and Shankill, and can be held for questioning until Thursday under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act -- anti-terrorism legislation.A source said: "The older prisoner is well known to the Special Branch and has a lengthy involvement in subversive activities."We believe that he was running a guns-for-sale scam, where replica and altered weapons were being sold to crime gangs in south and west Dublin."Most of the replicas are sourced from the North and transported by train to the capital, where they are then modified and sold on."The guns and ammunition were brought to the Garda Technical Bureau at the Phoenix Park yesterday, where they are undergoing forensic examination.Ballistic tests on the seven weapons will also be carried out, to establish if any of them was capable of firing.

Read More

Dennis Karbovanec associate of the Red Scorpion gang was shot New Year’s Eve

Dennis Karbovanec was stopped by Abbotsford police last October wearing a bulletproof vest, it was apparently for good reason.The 27-year-old associate of the Red Scorpion gang was shot New Year’s Eve, but survived with non-life-threatening injuries.Karbovanec, who was out on bail on a series of charges, arrived at Mission Memorial Hospital about 10:30 p.m. — again wearing body armour — and suffering from gunshot wounds. He was later released, police confirmed.RCMP Cpl. Paul Grewal said Monday he could not say much about the shooting because there is an active investigation.“There was a male who came into the hospital with gunshot wounds,” Grewal said. “He didn’t arrive by car. He walked in.” Grewal said police did not know where the shooting occurred, and he would not say whether Karbovanec was cooperating with the investigation.He confirmed that Mission’s general investigation section was working with the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force in the probe.
“In all these shootings that are gang-related, there is always the possibility of retaliation,” Grewal said.Karbovanec’s close friend Jonathan Bacon arrived at the hospital a short time later to see how his wounded associate was doing.The Vancouver Sun earlier reported that Karbovanec and Bacon had co-signed a car lease together in October 2007, both listing their home addresses as the Bacon’s family residence on Strathcona Crescent in Abbotsford.Karbovanec signed a second vehicle lease a month later for a GMC Yukon Denali, listing his address on the 15th floor of a highrise in the 3000-block of Clearbrook Road in Abbotsford.He was in the Yukon when Abbotsford Police stopped him on an outstanding warrant Oct. 23 in the Matsqui Trail Park on Riverside Road about 1:30 p.m.Const. Casey Vinet said at the time that Karbovanec was wearing body armour and that a search of the SUV revealed a loaded handgun and silencer in a hidden compartment.He was charged with 11 counts and is due back in court in January.


Both Jonathan Bacon and Karbovanec are associates of the Red Scorpion gang, which police believe is linked to the murders of six people at Surrey’s Balmoral Tower in October 2007.


Sgt. Shinder Kirk, of the gang task force, said Monday that any time there is a targeted shooting of someone linked to organized crime, police monitor the situation closely to head off retaliation.


“Any time we have violence against members of a crime group or suspected members of a crime group, there is always the possibility of retaliatory violence and that is of great concern to us,” Kirk said. He said task force members will intercede in any way possible to make sure there is not further violence.


Last May, the task force issued an extraordinary public warning to anyone who associated with Jonathan Bacon or his brothers Jarrod and Jamie, saying the trio had been targeted for death and that others could innocently get caught up in the potential violence.


The same day, the two younger Bacons were charged with a series of firearm offences that are still before the courts.


Kirk said Monday the public warning regarding the Bacons and their associates “is still in force.”

Read More

Vivian Blake alleged 'Shower Posse' boss and convicted drug lord

The police say they may give alleged 'Shower Posse' boss and convicted drug lord, Vivian Blake the chance to live like a free man when he returns to Jamaica. While uncertain if Blake was wanted for any crime committed locally, ACP Hines said the police's decision to keep an eye on the deportee depends on risk assessment.
"He is a free man so it's all about risk assessing...We are always mindful of an individual's right and the right of the general public. He is not yet in our jurisdiction so we will see," ACP Hines said. According to investigators, Blake is expected to be interviewed and will have to provide information in regards to his place of abode. This they say is in keeping with the monitoring of 'high risk' deportees. Blake is expected to arrive in the island soon after serving a nine-year prison sentence in the United States. He was reportedly scheduled to arrive on Sunday however, local detectives had to alter their plans as he did not enter the island. Blake was sentenced to 28 years in 2000 after pleading guilty to racketeering and criminal conspiracy. His sentence was shortened after entering a plea deal with US prosecutors. He had been indicted there 12 years earlier, but fled to Jamaica where he had been hiding until his capture. The Shower Posse reigned terror on the streets of the US and its members are reported to have murdered over 1,400 people there. In addition to racketeering, smuggling and distributing marijuana and cocaine from the Bahamas through the United States, the Shower Posse was also implicated in more than 1,000 murders in the United States under Blake's leadership. The group has been accused of trafficking huge amounts of cocaine into the US and using the profits to send firearms and ammunition back to Jamaica. The gang was said to have operated major drug networks in New York, Miami, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Alaska, Washington DC, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Montreal, Toronto and London. On December 18 of last year, Blake was featured on the Black Entertainment Television's American Gangster, a crime series in which he was quoted as saying "I ran it like a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. The only difference is that instead of litigating in a court of law, we held court in the streets." The programme looked at the rise and fall of the Shower Posse which has its roots in the west Kingston community of Tivoli Gardens.

Read More

Fresh Off the Boat - gang and the FOB Killers gang - which has claimed over two dozen lives since 2002 in Calgary.

Fresh Off the Boat gang and the FOB Killers gang has claimed over two dozen lives since 2002 in Calgary.One of the three victims was identified as 22-year-old Sanjeev Mann of the FOB Killers gang. Police said Mann had been involved with the gang since his school days when students formed the FOB gang to run a 'dial-a-dope' operation to deliver cocaine, marijuana and other drugs at people's doorstep after taking orders on cell phones. Later, some students broke away from the FOB gang to form the FOB Killers gang, leading to open warfare between the two groups. Mann has been a victim of the gang violence in the past. In 2007, he was shot and seriously wounded in front of his southeast Calgary home, a local newspaper reported.
He was arrested last year by police under an operation to crack a cocaine trafficking ring and charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, manufacturing a controlled substance and possession of proceeds of crime, Calgary Herald reported.Though more than 100 Indian-origin youths have been killed in drug-related gang warfare in the Vancouver area since the mid-1990s, Calgary has not seen any Indian-origin person killed in drug-related violence till now.'We are still a close-knit community and we don't have the kind of problems that Indian immigrants face in the Vancouver area. Our young men are not into this kind of thing. This is an odd case,' 27-year-old Manmeet Bhullar, who was elected to the Alberta assembly last year, told IANS.'But we are definitely seeing some negative influences, and Mann is the first such victim,' he said.

Read More