Bikie link to pit bull racket

 

HIGHLY organised criminals including bikies are using pit bulls as weapons amid claims of an illegal importation racket in Australia. At least 100 staffies are allowed into the country each year on little more than a promise they're not pit bulls. Police sources say many pit bulls in Victoria are unregistered and owned by criminals. "They use them like weapons," one source said. "Council rangers won't get close to them." An associate of the Bandidos bikie gang is known to keep one. Criminal sources in Victoria have told the Herald Sun of an international importation scheme whereby pit bulls are brought to Australia from the US. The dogs are described by importers on official Customs papers as staffordshire terriers, whose physical characteristics strongly resemble pit bulls.  The dogs are believed to originate from a pit bull breeder in the Pennsylvania town of Reading. They are promoted online and typically enter Australia through Western Australia, where they are bred and distributed, often to criminal elements, around the country. Customs figures show WA is a key entry point for staffordshire terriers. Last year, 29 of the 102 staffies brought into the country arrived in WA, compared with 16 in Victoria, 15 in Queensland and 31 in NSW. So far this year, 19 dogs have entered Australia through WA - more than any other state. Customs officers require a signed declaration from a vet and from those importing dogs attesting to the breed. The agency was unable to say whether it had ever stopped a pit bull at the nation's borders. The racket exploits confusion over how pit bulls are identified. Revelations of the hardcore criminal aspect of pit bull ownership will test the effectiveness of the Victorian Government's crackdown on dangerous dogs. The Government has set up a dangerous dog hotline, increased penalties and enhanced powers for council dog catchers following the fatal attack by a pit bull cross on St Albans girl Ayen Chol. A 27-year-old man required plastic surgery after a staffordshire terrier mauled him in Berwick this week.

The Devil's Professor

 

erstwhile associate kinesiology professor at California State University at San Bernardino remains on the lam after police raided his home last week and found a pound of methamphetamine and a cache of guns. Police are charging that Stephen Kinzey, who had been on the San Bernardino faculty for a decade, was leading a double life: teaching and researching by day; directing the local chapter of an outlaw biker gang, and its drug business, by night. Not long after the manhunt began, Albert Karnig, the university’s president, emphasized that no one on the Southern California campus saw this coming: “To our knowledge, this is the first notice that anyone on our campus has had regarding this situation,” Karnig said. “…If the allegations are indeed true, this is beyond disappointing.” newspaper accounts described neighbors, students, and even Kinzey's father as having little or no sense of the professor's alleged outside activities. The Contra Costa Times quoted Kinzey's father as saying that he knew that his son belonged to a motorcycle gang and was not "thrilled" about it (the father taught him to ride). But Hank Kinzey also described his son as "a good Catholic boy" and a Republican, and added: "Everybody's always in denial when it's something to do with their family, but this is really surreal," he said. How could a full-time college professor run a drug ring on the sly without tipping his hand? Tom Barker, a professor of criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University and leading scholar on outlaw biker gangs, says it is not hard to imagine. “It’s not uncommon for leaders or members of motorcycle gangs to hold down seemingly legitimate lives,” says Barker, even if part of their responsibility is to oversee an illegal drug business. “A college professor could easily pull it off.” Barker says he knows of at least two other college professors who are members of outlaw biker gangs, though he would not disclose their names because he says it could cost him his life. If Kinzey is the kingpin that police suspect he is, “he’s not actually that much involved in actual delivery of drugs,” says Barker. “He’s probably setting up the networks, and he can do that in the way he’s away from the classroom very easily.” In such crime organizations, most of the number-crunching falls to the secretary-treasurer, Barker says. The actual distribution falls to the members and their associates, the enforcer handles the dirty work, and the president’s leadership duties can be delegated to the vice president when necessary. While the chapter head is like the CEO of a small company, the illegal nature of the business means “there’s not a lot of paperwork,” says Barker. Barker says he is familiar with the Devil’s Diciples [sic], the gang Kinzey is alleged to have been running. And while he does not know specific details about the San Bernardino chapter, he says that the president of that chapter would have been in charge of anywhere between seven and 25 full-fledged gang members and a broad network of associates and business partners. He guessed the president of the chapter would personally pull in about a million dollars per year. As an associate kinesiology professor at San Bernardino, Kinzey was probably making around $70,000, according to the annual data produced by the American Association of University Professors. So if Kinzey was indeed the head of a lucrative drug ring, why continue to teach? Barker says that it may have been a fallback in case the kinesiology professor ever wanted to get out of organized crime. Heading the Devil’s Diciples might pay well, but it lacks the stability and retirement benefits of a state teaching job, Barker says. Another theory, he adds, is that Kinzey just loved to teach. Terry Rizzo, the chair of the kinesiology department at San Bernardino, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview; neither did Kinzey’s other colleagues. But student reviews on RateMyProfessors.com suggest that Kinzey had been popular among many students and passionate about his work. “Dr. Steve Kinsey is an amazing [professor], who helps his students in every situation, including in their greatest need,” wrote one student in 2007. “He is a good friend of mine and we continue to get together on a quarterly basis to catch up on life. Thank god for him, because I wouldn't be a graduate without him!!!!!” “He's so awesome!” wrote another, later that same year. “He has a passion for everything he does and it shows in his desire for students to succeed and understand.” More recent reviews paint a less flattering portrait, however. Kinzey “seems like he does not care anymore,” reported one reviewer in 2008. “im sure he is good at what he does he just isnt clear at all. talks all class and does not get anything done. kinda unorganized, but nice enough.” In 2010, a student wrote: “the professor sucks, he comes in late and doesn't care, if he try's to help you he'll end up rambling about himself.” And the last review before Kinzey became a fugitive, written last May, depicts a perpetually distracted instructor: “He's a really good guy and would give you the shirt off his back,” the reviewer wrote. “But something serious must have happened to him because he shows up late, and rambles on about random and controversial topics. He lost his focus & passion for teaching. His behavior lately makes it seem like he wants to get fired.” “Sad,” the student added, “because I really enjoyed all of his classes.”

Colin McRae blamed for fatal helicopter crash

 

Rally car champion Colin McRae has been blamed for causing the helicopter crash in which he died along with his five-year-old son and two family friends. A fatal accident inquiry found the crash, near his family home in Lanark in 2007, happened because he carried out unnecessary low-level manoeuvres. It also found that Mr McRae's flying was "imprudent" and "unreasonable". In a statement, the McRae family said they "still believe we will never know what caused the crash". No permission Mr McRae, 39, his five-year-old son Johnny, the boy's six-year-old friend Ben Porcelli and Graeme Duncan, 37, all died when the aircraft came down near the McRae family home in Lanark on 15 September 2007 as they flew home from a trip to see a friend. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Low-level flying in such difficult terrain, was imprudent, unreasonable and contrary to the principles of good airmanship” Sheriff Nikola Stewart The inquiry had heard from Karen and Mark Porcelli, the parents of Ben, who said they did not give Mr McRae permission to take their son in the helicopter. Sheriff Nikola Stewart, who heard the inquiry over 16 days at Lanark Sheriff Court, concluded that the deaths could have been avoided if Mr McRae had not engaged in low-level flying "when it was unnecessary and unsafe to do so". In her written determination, the sheriff concluded: "The deaths and the accident resulting in the deaths might have been avoided had Mr McRae not flown his helicopter into the Mouse Valley. "Such a precaution would have been entirely reasonable. There was no necessity to enter the Mouse Valley. There were no operational or logistical reasons to enter the Mouse Valley. "Mr McRae chose to fly the helicopter into the valley. For a private pilot such as Mr McRae, lacking the necessary training, experience or requirement to do so, embarking upon such demanding, low-level flying in such difficult terrain, was imprudent, unreasonable and contrary to the principles of good airmanship." The helicopter crashed near Mr McRae's home in September 2007 The ruling states that the accident happened when, due to an "unknown occurrence", the aircraft deviated from its intended flight path and crashed into trees lining the side of Mouse Valley. The aircraft was in powered flight at the time of the crash and Mr McRae had attempted to recover from that unknown incident. These attempts, the sheriff said, were unsuccessful because of the position and speed of the helicopter within Mouse Valley and the ensuing restrictions on opportunities to land the helicopter or fly it to safety. Such options would have been available to him had he "adhered to rules of good airmanship and desisted from flying in the valley at low height and high speed", she said. 'Unsafe' flying The sheriff stated: "It would have been a reasonable precaution to refrain from flying helicopter G-CBHL into Mouse Valley wherein the pilot engaged in low-level flying when it was unnecessary and unsafe for him to do so, and whilst carrying passengers on board." As part of the hearing, the sheriff and lawyers involved in the case visited the woods where the Eurocopter Squirrel aircraft crashed. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote We still believe we will never know what caused the crash” Jimmy McRae Colin McRae's father One of the crash victims, Mr Duncan, filmed much of the outbound and return flights on his personal camcorder and some of the footage was recovered and included in the inquiry hearings. Sheriff Stewart said the footage indicated that the helicopter was being flown "at unnecessarily low heights". "He (Mr McRae) undertook significant manoeuvring at low level and the helicopter seems to have encountered significant g-loading as a result, to the evident enjoyment of his passengers. "The episodes of extremely low-level flying and the excessive manoeuvre parameters, particularly the descent into the valley by Larkhall, all as captured on the video recording, are indicative of an aircraft being flown imprudently, without due regard to the principles of good airmanship and in such a way that normal safety margins would be reduced." To fly an aircraft in the UK, it is necessary to hold a pilot's licence and a valid medical certificate, and to have the licence validated with the type of aircraft to be flown. Sheriff Stewart found that Mr McRae did not hold a valid flying licence or a valid "rating" for the Eurocopter Squirrel helicopter. Continue reading the main story Inquiry timeline The FAI took place at Lanark Sheriff Court Evidence was heard over 12 days between 12 January and 26 May, 2011 An inspection of the site took place and points along the flight path were visited on January, 2011 Final submissions heard on 8 August, 2011 Fatal Accident Inquiry conclusions were published on 6 September "He was, accordingly, in breach of article 26 of the Air Navigation Order 2005 when he flew his helicopter on September 15 2007 and should not have flown that machine at that time," she said. The sheriff's findings go further than an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report, published in February 2009, which found no cause could be positively determined into the tragedy. In a statement, Mr McRae's family said they still believed the cause of the crash could not be determined. His father, Jimmy McRae, said: "We still believe we will never know what caused the crash but we were never in any doubt as to Colin's prowess as a fine pilot. "Everybody knows from Colin's rallying career that safety is always an issue and that his reactions and eye and hand co-ordination were world-class." He said his family had wanted the inquiry to recommend that private aircrafts should be fitted with a flight data recorder. He said: "Had a flight recorder been fitted to the aircraft, it may have been possible to determine what occurred in the final seconds of the flight and what actually caused the helicopter to crash. "This would prevent uncertainty as to the cause of the crash and allow lessons to be learned from tragic accidents such as this." Mr McRae said he hoped the family would be able to "move forward" following the findings. The McRae family's solicitor, Peter Watson, added: "Although Colin's licence was out-of-date, this played no contributory factor whatsoever to the accident.

Gang member sentenced to death in murder-for-hire scheme

 

gang member recruited in a murder-for-hire conspiracy was sentenced to death Thursday for killing a man who was set to inherit a family-run business in Rancho Dominguez, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office. Armando Macias, 35, of Lancaster was found guilty by a jury in April of one felony count of special circumstances murder with an allegation of murder for financial gain in the slaying of 44-year-old David Montemayor, the prosecutor's office said. Macias, who is the fifth defendant to be sentenced in connection with Montemayor’s murder since 2006, was also found guilty of kidnapping to commit robbery, possession of a firearm by a felon, street terrorism, attempted murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, officials said. Macias, who has a prior strike conviction for voluntary manslaughter in 1993, also was slapped with several sentencing enhancements in connection with Montemayor’s murder. Prosecutors allege that in 2002, Montemayor’s sister Deborah Perna, 54, of Anaheim and her co-worker Edelmira Corona, 34, of Pico Rivera solicited the help of 44-year-old gang member Anthony Navarro of Canyon Country to kill Montemayor. Perna was jealous that her father intended to pass control of the family company to her brother, who she believed was stealing from the business, prosecutors said. Navarro recruited gang members Gerardo Lopez, 26, of Pacoima, Alberto Martinez, 33, of Castaic, and Macias in a kidnap-and-murder-for-hire scheme, prosecutors said. On Oct. 2, 2002, the men kidnapped Montemayor, a father of three, at the family business in Rancho Dominguez and headed to the victim’s home in Buena Park, where they were told he kept thousands of dollars in cash, prosecutors said. On the way, Montemayor, who only had one arm, managed to escape the car. But Macias shot him in the head as he fled, prosecutors said. Lopez also fired at Montemayor before the gang members raced off in their car, triggering a police car chase, authorities said. Police eventually stopped the vehicle and arrested Macias, Lopez and Martinez. Both Navarro and Martinez have been earlier sentenced to death for their role in Montemayor’s murder. Lopez, the other gang member, and Perna, the victim’s sister, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to information from the district attorney's office. Corona, the co-worker, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 18. She faces a maximum of 22 years in prison, officials said.

Texas Syndicate's Valley head gets 20 years; 5 fellow gang members also sentenced

 

Six members of the Texas Syndicate prison gang — including its Rio Grande Valley leader — were sentenced to serve time in federal prison for several charges including racketeering, kidnapping and drug charges. Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa on Monday sentenced 40-year-old Jose Ismael Salas, the gang’s regional head, to 20 years in prison for drug and racketeering offenses, court records show. Salas originally pleaded guilty April 2, 2009, to two separate charges of possession with intent to distribute 6 kilograms of cocaine on Aug. 12, 2004, and a similar charge for 39 kilograms of marijuana on March 28, 2003. The charge alleged that the intent of the possession of the drugs was to further the goals of the criminal organization. Among the five other Texas Syndicate members who were sentenced was Fidel Valle, 45, who received a sentence of 10 years and six months in prison. Valle was described as the drug supplier for the organization. He entered a guilty plea July 28, 2009, to the charge of possession with intent to distribute 6 kilograms of cocaine. Court records show that Aug. 12, 2004, after speaking with Salas, Valle tried to sell the cocaine to other Texas Syndicate members but was stopped by authorities during a traffic stop. Also sentenced was Romeo Rosales, 41, who received 12 years and seven months in prison for the kidnapping of Amancio Pinales, who was abducted and eventually gunned down in Mexico on Aug. 12, 2004. Noel De Los Santos, 33, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the March 20, 2003, murder of fellow gang member Crisantos Moran. According to information released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Moran had been ordered to kill a rival gang member from Peñitas, but after arriving there with De Los Santos and another member named Jose Armando Garcia, he failed to carry out the killing and was slain instead. Earlier this year, Garcia was given a life sentence. Two other Syndicate members were sentenced for a separate murder connected to the organization. Cristobal Hernandez, 31, and Arturo Rodriguez were sentenced to 10 and 20 years, respectively, for the murder of Marcelino Rodriguez in June 2007. The two men had aided a third man known as Raul Galindo, who shot Rodriguez in the back of the head. The two men then set the vehicle containing his body on fire. Rodriguez had been named in a sealed court document that had been provided to them by an employee at a law firm that was defending Rodriguez. The Texas Syndicate had sanctioned the death of Rodriguez.

Ex-wife chases Hells Angel biker for child support

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

PETER EDWARDS/TORONTO STAR

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gault could not be reached for comment.

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

“He was proud of that,” Sebastiao says.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

Bail for leader of Hells Angels' Ventura chapter

 

longtime leader of the Hells Angels' Ventura County chapter charged in connection with the firebombing of two tattoo parlors has been granted bail. The Ventura County Star ( http://bit.ly/pPC00U) says a judge Friday ordered 64-year-old George Christie Jr. detained at home with an electronic monitoring bracelet. It was unclear early Saturday whether Christie had posted the $200,000 bail. Christie was arrested three weeks ago after being named in a six-count indictment that charges him and four others with conspiracy, extortion and arson. The indictment alleges that Christie, who owns a tattoo shop in Ventura, ordered Hells Angels members to threaten his competitors in an attempt to shut down their businesses. He has pleaded not guilty.

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

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

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Source: EPA/BGNES

Nine injured in bar fight in Kadıköy

Nine people were injured when two groups of people attacked each other with knives on Kadife Street, also known as “Bar Street,” in İstanbul's Kadıköy district late Saturday.
 
According to reports one of the groups attacked members of the other group on Kadife Street, telling them not to drink there again.

Some eyewitnesses said the attackers were carrying bottles of alcohol in their hands and were members of a group known as the “Hell's Angels,” who wear identical T- shirts.

In protest of the attack in Kadıköy, some people on Facebook called for the organization a demonstration on Bar Street.

Police made a statement on Sunday and said the Kadıköy incident was not just a street fight and noted it started in a bar a week ago. Police said the attack was perpetrated by the Hell's Angels group, some of whose members have criminal records.

Those who were injured in the attack were identified as Nezih Ayak, İnan Aruh, Sertaç Birgin, Yiğit Hadi İlde, İsmet Ozan Eras, Semih Ergeleli and Öncel Yüksel. 

Residents of the neighborhood complain about the rise in the number of bars there, which they hold responsible for noise and excessive drinking of alcohol. 

Ferhat Çakır, a resident, said people drink alcohol in their street until morning and disturb them.

“They enter buildings to relieves themselves at night. We applied to the governor's office to inform them about our problem, but we didn't get any results. They also use the wall of the Ayia Triada Greek Orthodox Church as a WC. We reminded them that it is a place of worship, but our warning was to no avail.”

 

Fighting biker gangs may be behind incidents

Police believe a fight between two biker clubs may be linked to the shooting this week at a Stranmillis Avenue home.
Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Natalie Aitken said today the home "may have been targeted."
Officers went to the Stranmillis home Wednesday at about 4 a.m. after a report of shots fired, as well as smoke inside the structure.
And the day before, police went to a home on the first 100 block of Canberra Road after shots were heard.
That home was damaged from what looked like a shooting, though police said no one was injured.
"The evidence that we do have to date suggests that it looks like it’s two opposing motorcycle clubs that have been involved in different incidents in the last week," said  Aitken.
"When we have these types of incidents with individuals who are arming themselves, in this case, either with firearms, or other weapons of choice, that’s something that the police service is taking very seriously, and is working as quickly as we can to locate and apprehend any individuals who would be responsible," said Aitken.
She said police don’t have any answers right now as to what the dispute is over. Officers are interviewing a number of people, and are looking at if they’re connected to any other crimes.
"We don’t have anyone in custody right now, those are answers that we certainly would like to get to the bottom (of) as quickly as possible," she said.
"We’re very fortunate that in these incidents no one was injured."