Alleged hitman not guilty but woman gets 12 years in prison for ordering her husband's death

 

Charles Michael G.C. has served three years in prison on remand and has now been found not guiltyThe accused in court - EFE A 22 year old woman has been given a 12 year prison sentence for ordering the death of her husband with a hitman. María Dolores M., a lawyer from Ciempozuelos, Madrid, contracted Eloy S. to act as a mediator with the hitman. Eloy S. the owner of a private security company, has been given a 12 year six month sentence for his role, and has been found guilty of murder. However the man originally accused of being the hitman, Charles Michael G.C., and who would have carried out the killing of Miguel Ángel S.P., was found not guilty. He was released on December 12 after being held on remand in the Alcalá Meco prison since May 2008, accused of being the material author of the three shots which did away with the ex husband of the lawyer at garage of their home in Ciempozuelos in May 2007. The prosecutor had called for a 45 year sentence for the alleged shooter.

gang member has been sentenced to 155 years in prison for the shooting death of a 16-year-old honor student after a homecoming football game at a Long Beach high school.

A judge sentenced 18-year-old Tom Love Vinson on Monday for killing Melody Ross on Oct. 30, 2009, at Woodrow Wilson High. Vinson was 16 at the time but was tried as an adult.

Jurors convicted Vinson of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder for wounding two men, as well as attempted voluntary manslaughter of another teenage girl.

The jury also found that Vinson committed the crimes to further a street gang.

Vinson testified that he opened fire after a gang rival pointed a gun at him as hundreds of people were leaving the game. Ross was a bystander.

THE gunman who terrorised O'Connell St diners in the latest battle in Adelaide's bikie war was lurking outside Caffe Paesano eight hours before he fired on his Comancheros targets.

 
A witness to the Sunday night shooting in the busy restaurant said he had seen the man, believed to be a Hells Angels member, at the North Adelaide cafe at lunchtime that day.

Like the frightened diners who ducked under tables as the bikies returned fire, the witness said he did not want to be identified.

Police yesterday said the shootout on one of Adelaide's most popular dining strips - and just over 1km from where hundreds of families enjoyed Christmas carols by the Torrens - is linked to the shooting of Comancheros president Vince Focarelli.

But police Assistant Commissioner Grant Stevens rejected suggestions Adelaide was in the grip of a bikie war or that police had lost the battle against violent gangs.



"I wouldn't suggest we've lost the battle against bikies," he said. "This is not a bikie war when we have rival gangs drawing a line in the sand, so to speak."

Focarelli remains in hospital under guard after being shot by an unknown gunman at Munno Para West about midnight on Thursday.

The former leader of the New Boys street gang, Focarelli had surgery for a leg wound on Friday in Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The Caffe Paesano shooting, shortly after 9.30pm on Sunday as eateries on the strip were beginning to close, was the fourth gun attack in seven days involving bikie gangs in Adelaide.

"We believe these are isolated incidents that happened to occur in close (time) proximity but we know they are separate and distinct incidents involving different groups," Mr Stevens said.

"It might not be with the sanction of the group itself, but as individuals, they are violent people and as groups they are more violent.

"This is not something that has just arisen in the last few weeks. There has been incidents of violence between outlaw motorcycle gang members and, unfortunately, there will continue to be incidents of violence.

"Our job is to minimise that as much as possible and take action when these occur to hold those people to account."

It is understood police know the identity of those involved in the Paesano shootout.

Other recent shootings have included:

THREE masked men firing shots into an empty Burton house, owned by a man with bikie links, about 12.30am on Saturday.

AN UNKNOWN gunman fired a dozen shots, believed to be from a 9mm handgun, into the luxury Glenelg North home of George Polites, 57, about 3.30am on December 11, but police say that was not related to Sunday's attack.

FOCARELLI shot in the leg at a Munno Para West home and escaping by smashing through the window of a neighbouring house.

A MAN who received a single gunshot wound to his right knee in the southern suburbs on Sunday is refusing to co-operate with police.

Police would not reveal which bikie club the cafe gunman was linked to, but it is understood to be the Hells Angels. The two clubs have a historic feud in the eastern states. He walked off O'Connell St to within 3m of the Comancheros members and fired at least one shot from a "small handgun" while they sat at an outside table.

Customers and staff at the cafe ducked under tables for safety, and were lucky not to be caught in the crossfire as one bullet shattered a glass display cabinet in the restaurant.

One of the Comancheros returned fire, hitting the gunman in the leg.

He fled, heading west on Tynte St and was chased by one of his targets. The chase was captured on CCTV and the footage has been seized by police.

More shots rang out as the men ran through O'Connell St to Tynte St but police would not confirm the number fired or the calibre of handguns used. The injured gunman has yet to seek medical attention.

North Adelaide residents said they heard "five or six" gunshots, which some people initially thought were fireworks.

Mr Stevens said the cafe owners were co-operating with police.

"I will not make any conclusions in relation to whether it's payback or how it is related," he said.

"We have information suggesting to us that the people involved are connected to each other. Both of those people have gone to ground and have not come forward."

Mr Stevens said street shootings and rampant violence by bikies occurred across the country and was not "unique to Adelaide".

"The people involved are known to each other, this is not a random incident (but) I can't elaborate any further," he said.

"This may be the first time it's happened in O'Connell St and in a coffee shop, but we've seen shooting incidents in other public venues in the CBD of Adelaide. This is not something we want happening in South Australia."

Mr Stevens said police were focused on the North Adelaide shooting and the hunt for the people who shot the son of Mark Sandery.

Seven extra officers dedicated to investigating the shooting will join the 44 officers in the Criminal Gangs Taskforce.

Feuding street gangs may be responsible for an early Sunday shooting in a suburban Montreal strip club that left four people injured,

Feuding street gangs may be responsible for an early Sunday shooting in a suburban Montreal strip club that left four people injured, police said.

"There are certain elements found at the scene that is making us believe this may be a street gang conflict between two rival groups," Laval police Constable Frank Di Genova said.

"It's not confirmed 100 percent, but it seems to lean that way."

All four victims -- three men who suffered gunshot wounds and a woman hit by flying glass -- were expected to recover, said police, who had made three arrests. No names had been released.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported there were about 150 people inside and outside the bar when the shooting broke out about 2 a..m.

nearly a dozen shootings on city streets in the past month and a half, and with no arrests or charges so far,

 nearly a dozen shootings on city streets in the past month and a half, and with no arrests or charges so far, Acting Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said Monday the service was undertaking an intense, two-month “high-enforcement” campaign to clamp down on gang activity.

Speaking to the Ottawa Police Services Board, Bordeleau promised a “high-visibility” effort by a beefed-up guns and gangs section to determine who was doing the shooting and to arrest those responsible.

“Ottawa is still a very safe city, but there’s no question that, in the last month or so, we’ve had an increase in shooting,” Bordeleau said in a brief interview. “Some of the shootings that have taken place can be attributed to gangs. We’re targeting known gang members who are possibly linked to these shootings.”

There have been 11 seemingly random shootings on Ottawa streets since Nov. 1, including three on the weekend. Early Sunday morning, there was a shooting in at the Wal-Mart at 2210 Bank St. Similarly, police raced to the York Street area in the ByWard Market after reports of a shot being fired shortly after 2 a.m. on Friday, About three hours later, police received reports of gunshots in the area of Cedarwood Drive and Walkley Road.

In the latter incident, three men were seen fleeing the area in a silver-coloured car. When police arrived, they found a minivan on Cedarwood Drive with the windows shot out.

Bordeleau acknowledged that the motive for the shooting may involve rival gangs trying to intimidate each other. “I think there’s a bit of that, that’s what’s going on,” he said.

With this in mind, the police department is bolstering its guns and gangs unit and its Direct Action Response Team to focus on gang activity, identify suspects in the shootings and, hopefully, lay charges, Bordeleau said.

“Any shooting that takes place in our city, whether it’s targeted on not, is a concern for us. That’s why we’re taking it seriously and why we’re increasing enforcement and visibility.”

Since the shooting spree began, Ottawa-area hospitals have treated a number of victims of gunshot wounds. On the other hand, police have arrived at shooting sites around the city to find no one was hurt.

In a Nov. 24 shooting, police were called to Sandalwood Drive around 4: 30 a.m. after shots were fired into the back of the residence belonging to the family of a man who killed a Ledbury Banff Crips street gang member. Nawaf Al-Enzi, was convicted last year of the murder of Mohamed Zalal, 22. Members of the Al-Enzi family were in the house at the time of the shooting, but no one was injured.

Police officials have said they’ve found no overall pattern to the shootings. They have also been hampered by the seeming lack on witnesses and the apparent reluctance of even intended victims to talk.

“It’s very difficult when the evidence, the witnesses and the intended victims are providing limited information,” Staff Sgt. Mark Patterson, the officer in charge of the guns and gangs unit, said recently.

The unit has investigated nearly two dozen shootings this year.

former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk was actually cuffed and stuffed by machine gun toting cops in the United Kingdom

Maybe they thought he was in cahoots with International fugitive Junie Browning?

Believe it or not, this isn't one of my smartass titles -- former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk was actually cuffed and stuffed by machine gun toting cops in the United Kingdom.

Fighters Only has the scoop:

As he was being ferried into the area, the car he was traveling in was stopped by a roadblock and armed police swooped on the vehicle. Police had the vehicle on their database as being linked to a local man who they believe to be a key gangland figure.

Sherk thought the car was being subjected to a routine stop until it turned out to involve several carloads of police officers carrying automatic weapons, including Hechler and Koch MP5 machine guns - the UK police do not normally carry guns.

Having remained sat in his passenger seat because he had not understood an instruction to exit the vehicle, Sherk was dragged out by tense officers. They cuffed his hands behind his back and pulled him away where he was none too gently searched before being dumped on the floor.

Rat-tat-tat-tat, tat-tat-tat like that and I never hesitate to put a "Muscle Shark" on his back.

Sherk was on location as part of his mixed martial arts (MMA) seminar tour and apparently was incorrectly linked to a local crime warlord.

He was later released and said to be in "good spirits" following the ordeal.

Rich Egyptians weigh emigration as Islamists surge

 

For decades, Egypt's Westernised elite kept the country's growing religosity at arm's length, but a projected Islamist surge in the first post-revolution polls has driven many to think of moving abroad. Sporting the latest fashions and mingling in upmarket country clubs, Egypt's rich fear a victory for the Muslim Brotherhood and hardline Salafis in the first phase of parliamentary elections presages change ahead. "I hope they don't impose the veil and ban women from driving like in Saudi Arabia," said coquettish fifty-something Naglaa Fahmi from her gym in the leafy neighbourhood of Zamalek. In a nearby luxury hotel, Nardine -- one of Egypt's eight million Coptic Christians who are alarmed by the prospect of a new Islamist-dominated parliament -- is pondering a move aroad. "My father is seriously thinking about sending me and my brothers elsewhere because he thinks we won't have a future in the country with the Salafis," said the banker in her twenties. Ten months after a popular uprising ended the 30-year autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak, millions of Egyptians embraced their new democratic freedoms earlier this week at the start of multi-stage parliamentary elections. The preliminary results to be published on Friday were expected to show the moderate Muslim Brotherhood as the dominant force, but with a surprisingly strong showing from the hardline Al-Nur party. Its leaders advocate the fundamentalist brand of Salafi Islam, rejecting Western culture and favouring strict segregation of the sexes and the veiling of women. They say they have been the victims of Islamophobia and sustained fear-mongering by liberals in the Egyptian media. Nevertheless, the fear that they will try to impose their values on the rest of society has driven Angie to consider leaving her comfortable Cairo life behind. "My husband recently got a job offer in Dubai. In the beginning I was hesitant, but now, with all that's happening, I'm encouraging him to take the job and I'll join him with our daughter," she said. "The Gulf has become more liberal than Egypt," she told AFP. For Ahmed Gabri, having the Islamists in power means having his freedoms restricted. "I will leave the country," said Gabri, a Muslim. "I will not stand living in a puritanical climate. Why don't they just let people live the way they want?" The next parliament will be charged with writing a new constitution and the idea of an Islamist-dominated assembly has sent shockwaves through some segments of society. Many stress the difference, however, between the different Islamist groups. "They don't scare me. We have democracy now which means we'll be able to remove them if they don't suit us," said Manar, a tall blonde in her 40s. "It's the not the Muslim Brotherhood that worries me because they want to appear in the best light, it's the Salafis that I'm concerned about," she said. Iman Ragab, a shop assistant, has resigned herself to the election's likely outcome. "This is democracy, you have to accept the results of the ballot," she said.

confrontation was between members of the outlaw Gypsy Jokers and Comancheros motorcycle gangs

 

A confrontation between rival bikie gangs saw 12 members ejected from the Danny Green fight in Perth. West Australian Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan confirmed on Thursday two gang members were arrested, with one charged with assaulting a public officer. They were led out of Challenge Stadium by members of the Gang Crime Squad during the cruiserweight bout between Green and Poland's Krzysztof Wlodarczyk on Wednesday night. It is believed the initial confrontation was between members of the outlaw Gypsy Jokers and Comancheros motorcycle gangs. "It's not an unusual occurrence at these sorts of events - it is one reason why we have such a large security response," Mr O'Callaghan said.

Hells Angel pleads not guilty in NV casino killing

 

California member of the Hells Angels has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for his role in a September brawl at Nevada casino that erupted into a shootout that claimed the life of his San Jose chapter president. Cesar Villagrana of Gilroy, Calif., is accused of shooting two members of the rival Vagos motorcycle gang the night that his longtime friend Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew was shot to death on the floor of John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks. Washoe District Judge Connie Steinheimer on Thursday tentatively assigned him the same Jan. 17 trial date she earlier set for the Vagos accused of killing Pettigrew - Ernesto Gonzalez of San Francisco. But Villagrana's lawyer, Richard Schonfeld of Las Vegas, doesn't expect a trial before the end of 2012.

former full-patch member of the Hells Angels who was the bike gang's treasurer and top man in the Toronto area is in a fight to avoid deportation to Scotland.

 

Mark Alistair Stables, who has no criminal record and has been living here for more than 40 years, was found inadmissible to Canada by an Immigration and Refugee Board for being a member of a criminal organization, the Hells Angels.

He appealed the decision to the Federal Court of Canada, and two weeks ago that court ruled Ottawa can make plans to deport Stables even though he doesn't have a criminal record.

The nine-year "full patch" member was a former Sergeant at Arms and president of the Hells Angels Ontario Corp., in which he acted as a treasurer for 10 chapters for seven years.

"He was very involved in many aspects of the Hells Angels activities," Judge Yves de Montigny said in his decision. The "positions would have given him a good knowledge about the organization's purpose, mandate, agenda or activities."

De Montigny said Stables was "not isolated" from gang activities and "was fully integrated into the Hells Angels."

Court heard Stables arrived in Canada from Scotland with his parents at the age of seven and never obtained citizenship. He joined the gang in 2000 and claimed to quit in 2009.

His immigration problems began in 2006 after he was found carrying Hells Angels paraphernalia and phone numbers as he arrived on a flight at Vancouver International Airport. A report for his deportation was filed.

The board noted Stables had no "exit date" on his Hells Angels tattoo to show that he left the gang.

Stables still has appeals available to him before he can be deported, officials said.

Police said the Hells Angels are involved in drug trafficking, importation of drugs, manufacturing and distribution of drugs, thefts, extortions, firearms, prostitution, money laundering and murder.

"The organization collects intelligence on policing, and it operates a number of clubhouses that make it safe to conduct illegal business," the high court said. "Chapters are usually opened for the purpose of manufacturing or distributing drugs."

de Montigny said members who get in trouble with the law are assisted by club dues that are used to defray their costs.

Police said the Hells Angels is considered the primary producer and distributor of illegal drugs in the U.S. and Canada.