(CAN) One guilty plea among 8 charged in Hells Angels bust in Kelowna
A Hells Angels associate pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with a massive cocaine conspiracy that allegedly involves the notorious motorcycle club.
During a brief appearance before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carol Ross in Vancouver, Orhan Saydam pleaded guilty to a single count of unlawful possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
Saydam, who sat quietly in the prisoner’s dock, is the first of eight men charged in the conspiracy to have his case dealt with.
In accepting the plea, the judge got Saydam to acknowledge that he was not pressured or coerced and that he faced a potential prison sentence.
None of the circumstances surrounding the offence were described during the court appearance.
A sentencing hearing for Saydam, who remains on bail, has been scheduled for April 14 in Vancouver.
Saydam and the seven other accused were arrested following an RCMP raid on the club’s Kelowna clubhouse in August 2012.
They were charged following a 20-month reverse sting operation launched by police and dubbed E-Predicate.
The sting focused on marijuana grow-ops in the Okanagan area allegedly being used by the Hells Angels to fund the importation of large shipments of cocaine into Canada. Police seized more than $4 million in alleged drug money during the operation.
There are pre-trial motions for the other seven men starting in April. Their trial is expected to begin in September in Vancouver and run for several months.
(USSA) Hells Angels battling for East Village clubhouse
Julia Marsh December 10, 2013
The New York chapter of the Hells Angels are waging a turf war over their East Village clubhouse.
But this biker battle is playing out in court, where the intimidating motorcycle club is suing their late president’s family over rights to the building.
Sandy Alexander, a convicted drug dealer who ruled the roost at the Angels’ East 3rd Street headquarters in the mid-1980s, unilaterally changed the building’s deed in 1983 to name himself and his family as rent-free tenants, according to court papers.
Now the Angels are arguing in their Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit that Alexander’s deal died with him in 2007.
They are suing his second wife, Alison Glass Alexander, of Jamaica, Queens and his daughter from another marriage, Kimberly Alexander, of Needles, Calif. to prevent them from making a grab for the property.
A source told The Post that the members have no immediate plans to sell 77 E. 3rd St. — which is on the periphery of New York University’s $6 billion expansion plan and in a once-crime ridden neighborhood where one-bedrooms now rent for $3,500 a month — but they wanted to clear up the “cloudy deed.”
The decades-old agreement, obtained by The Post, says that Sandy’s heirs “shall receive half of the proceeds” from the sale of the six-story building that has around 10 apartments on the top five floors.
During his tenure Sandy lived above the clubhouse with his family.
But the Alexanders have been barred from the building for at least the past nine years, according to the suit. Sandy became estranged from the gang in the 1990s because of the ownership dispute, the source said.
He served six years in prison for dealing cocaine, but got out of jail in time to defend against a property seizure case brought by the federal government in 1994, which had claimed members of the Hells Angels manufactured and distributed methamphetamine out of the building.
A jury found there was not enough evidence for the feds to confiscate the property and the judge, Sonia Sotomayor, who now sits on the Supreme Court, declined to grant a retrial.
In the current case, the bikers want the court to declare them the sole owner of the clubhouse.
Neither Alison nor Kimberly Alexander could immediately be reached for comment.http://nypost.com/2013/12/10/hells-angels-battling-over-east-village-clubhouse/
(USA) Mudder’s Day host pays BRFD firefighters’ fines
KEITH WHITCOMB JR., Staff Writer
POSTED: 11/16/2013 01:00:00 AM EST
BENNINGTON — The organizer of the annual Mudder’s Day event has paid the fines levied against two firefighters who the state accused of setting fire to a camper without proper permits as part of a stunt.
In October, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources announced its intention to fine Ryan Nystrom, 28, of Pleasant Street, and Roger Hughes, 35, of Northside Drive, both members of the Bennington Rural Fire Department, $300 each for “opening burning of prohibited materials.”
Nystrom and Hughes were each handed $300 in cash Friday by Milo Campbell at a garage where he works at in Hoosick, N.Y.
The Mudder’s Day event, held on Mother’s Day in May, is a mud-bogging celebration that has been happening annually for the past few years. Organized by Campbell, the event culminated this year with a vehicle being driven through a camper which had been set ablaze. The stunt was filmed and posted to YouTube, and showed BRFD members lighting the fire.
For the town to allow the event, fire protection and ambulance services had to be present. Hughes and Nystrom told the Banner in October that they assumed proper burn permits were in place, and they reasoned that for safety purposes they should be the ones to ignite the camper.
Initially, 15 BRFD members, including Nystrom and Hughes, were suspended over the incident. Their suspensions were soon undone at a meeting of the department’s Prudential Committee which drew a large crowd, including members of the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club, which in turn drew a police presence. Campbell is a member of the Hell’s Angels.
“Why should they have to pay just for doing something they felt was the right thing to do?” said Campbell in an interview. “Obviously they were misled by their own chiefs.”
Campbell said the Mudder’s Day event has been going on for six years and has always involved a finale like the one this year. It will continue to end with a big stunt, just not one involving fire, he said, and if there is fire the necessary permits will be sought.
The incident and subsequent fallout has led to some discontent amongst firefighters, said Hughes, but mainly against its leadership. He said the firefighters — especially the 15 who were suspended — are closer than ever.
Hughes said shortly before the suspension, he and other firefighters had entered a burning building in the course of duty, melting some of their gear in the process. “A week later, we’re outcasts, we’re shunned, we’re chopped liver,” he said.
He said friends had raised about $300 for them already, which they told Campbell about, but he gave them the money all the same. The extra money will be donated to a local charity.
Hughes said he plans to run for fire chief in January, as do Kenneth Goings and Aaron Longtin.
BRFD Chief Shawn Gardner could not be reached for comment Friday evening.
The two could have fought the ticket, but for various reasons chose not to.
“I’m just glad it will finally be over, really,” said Hughes. “I appreciate everybody that’s stepped up for us and stood behind us through it all. We’re sorry that the department’s name was brought in to this.”
He said this was a learning experience and in the future he will ask to see the permits for live burns. Hughes considered contesting the ticket, but took a new job recently that left him without accrued vacation time. Nystrom noted court fees, and the possibility of a much larger fine if the case is lost.
“The amount of support that came out of it is just greatly appreciated and it’s good to know now that people do still care,” said Nystrom.
The ANR announced its intention to fine Nystrom and Hughes in October, but a public comment period had to run its course first. That ended Nov. 2 and the state had the option to drop the matter, however the tickets were mailed to them both on Nov. 7.
Contact Keith Whitcomb Jr. at kwhitcomb@benningtonbanner.com or follow him on Twitter @KWhitcombjr.
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/localnews/ci_24536077/mudder-rsquo-s-day-host-pays-brfd-firefighters
(NO) Hells Angels of Oslo offer mulled wine and ginger biscuits
Nov. 14, 2013 at 12:21 PM
OSLO, Norway, Nov. 14 (UPI) — The Oslo branch of the Hells Angels motorcycle club has invited locals into its club house for wine and treats in an effort to ditch the club’s criminal image.
The Hells Angels have been in trouble with the law recently in Norway, The Local.no reported.
In 2010, police found three handguns and an assault rifle when officers raided the Oslo clubhouse. In another raid in 2011, police officers discovered 11 more illegal weapons.
The Hells Angels was also involved in Great Nordic Biker War between the Hells Angels and the rival Bandidos club that took place across Scandinavia and Finland in the mid-1990s.
“There has been a lot of publicity around the motorcycle community, and we have received a lot of criticism for being closed. So now anyone curious can come and see what we do here,” the group’s Norway spokesman Rune Olsgaard told Aftenposten. “You will have the opportunity to look around, and since it’s Christmas, we will probably serve mulled wine and ginger biscuits, too.”
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