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City men face stern U.S. justice
Drug charges call for 10-year minimum
Sat Feb 16 2008
(Comments In Brackets My Own)
The charges he's now facing kind of make (his Manitoba charges) pale
in comparison'
-- Timothy Morneau's Winnipeg lawyer Mike Cook
By Mike McIntyre and James Turner
TIMOTHY Morneau suffers from an extreme anxiety disorder that has left
him fearful of being in crowded, confined spaces.
(Then why become a criminal in a gang in slow decline? He has
guaranteed spending time in a cell on a regular basis.)
Now the Manitoba Hells Angels associate -- and two other young
Winnipeg men with no prior criminal records -- face the prospect of
spending at least 10 years locked in American jail cells after their
drug-related arrest last weekend.
Morneau, 32, Christian Laurin, 19, and Alan Mulder, 19, are accused of
smuggling 130 pounds of Ecstasy into the state of Montana. Convictions
would carry mandatory minimum sentences of a decade, and a maximum of
life with no chance of parole.
(If convicted they should give them much more than a decade as a
warning to other foreign gang members.)
Documents filed in district court show the trio was pulled over Feb. 9
by state troopers while driving on an interstate highway in Montana.
Police say inconsistencies in statements given by the three suspects
led the troopers to search the vehicle, and three duffel bags
containing the Ecstasy pills were seized.
Morneau told police he had hauled the bags across the Canada-U.S.
border by snowmobile, according to the court documents. Police also
allege Morneau told them the teenagers were knowing participants, and
were to be paid $1,000 for their involvement. Morneau allegedly told
police he was being paid $5,000 -- from an unidentified source -- to
take the bags over the border and that his accomplices were to be paid
out of his take.
All three accused face charges of possession with the intent to
distribute.
(These ppl were working as mules and managed to get paid less than the
$1,500 going rate. These criminals are incredibly stupid and a danger
to society. Pretty lame that HA is paying less than the going rate.)
At a preliminary hearing held Friday in Billings, Montana, a judge
determined there was probable cause to hold the trio. They'll most
likely spend the week there before being moved to a federal facility
in nearby Shelby.
Under the U.S. "speedy trial" law, the government has 70 days to begin
trial proceedings, but the court-appointed defence lawyer for Laurin,
David Merchant, said the government now must indict the three, which
would start the trial clock again.
No plea has been entered by any of the men, Merchant said.
Merchant said the teenagers could be exempted from the 10-year
mandatory minimum based on a first-offence "safety valve" that exists
in U.S. law, should the amount of drugs alleged to be involved turn
out to be less.
Merchant said he's still waiting on lab reports to verify the exact
amount of Ecstacy in the duffel bags.
Merchant also said he sees serious problems with the case so far, and
wonders why police pulled the three over for a broken headlight at
7:50 a.m.
"There's some things that don't add up -- they were pulled over for
another reason," Merchant said.
(Lie. A broken headlight is a good reason to pull over a car with
three young men. HAers often do stupid things like this especially at
the lower levels. A local HA house in Surrey doesn't have house
numbers during a gang war thus inviting scrutiny. It is unknown why
the local officials are not enforcing the by-laws on them. This idea
that HAers are immune form ordinary laws like proper headlights and
house numbers is ludicrous.)
Winnipeg police said Mulder was reported missing by family on Tuesday.
He had told family he was travelling to Mall of America in
Minneapolis.
Laurin's Facebook profile indicates his friends are aware of his
situation -- he had been active on the social networking site up until
Wednesday of last week.
He listed his favourite activities as "working out every day and
spending money."
By 4:30 p.m. Friday, his profile had been pulled down, but a friend of
Laurin said the teenagers are friends who had known each other for a
couple of years.
Morneau is a self-employed mechanic who is no stranger to the local
Hells Angels, who often come to him to fix their bikes, justice
sources said.
He's also become well known in the courts recently.
Morneau currently faces drug charges stemming from a May 2007 arrest.
Winnipeg police stopped a car in which Morneau was a passenger and
seized 76 Percocet pills and 30 rocks of crack cocaine, according to
court documents obtained by the Free Press.
He was also charged with possessing an illegal metal baton and found
to be carrying several cellphones. Police and the Crown alleged
Morneau was working as a local "dial-a-dealer." He has denied the
allegations.
At the time of his drug arrest, Morneau had been free on bail pending
sentencing for his role in an unusual theft ring.
Morneau was nabbed in July 2006 and admitted to breaking into several
semi-trailers parked in locked compounds on the edge of the city. He
stole several items including 800 pounds of ground beef, $2,500 in
beer and $400 worth of McDonald's products, court was told.
Morneau was supposed to be sentenced for those crimes in early 2007
but the case was delayed when he failed to show up for a court-ordered
meeting with his probation officer.
Morneau was supposed to appear in court this past Thursday but his
absence was excused after defence lawyer Mike Cook explained his
client is in American custody.
"The charges he's now facing kind of make (his Manitoba charges) pale
in comparison," Cook told the Free Press on Friday.
(Sounds like he is headed for a long time in prison and that he has
never done anything to benefit society.)
www.mikeoncrime.com
james.turner@freepress.mb.ca
Canadian sentences much lighter
By James Turner
THE 10-year terms faced by three Winnipeg men charged in Montana with
drug trafficking is raising the profile of the debate over the
increased use of mandatory minimum sentences in Canada.
Mandatory minimums are nothing new in the U.S. and they mean it -- the
minimum sentence is mandatory.
Manitoba's former deputy attorney-general and University of Manitoba
law professor Bruce MacFarlane said if two of the men -- who are still
teens -- were convicted of the same crime in Canada today, they would
likely be given sentences of four to six years.
In Canada also, the actual time served is often slashed by conditional
sentencing and time off for good behaviour. And convicts are given
double-time credit for time served in jail awaiting trial.
Up until 1987, importing drugs into Canada -- no matter the amount --
used to net those caught a mandatory minimum of seven years.
In 1985, Edward Dewey was sentenced to eight years in jail after
pleading guilty to smuggling just over seven ounces of cocaine into
the country.
The Supreme Court struck down the mandatory minimum law based on the
Dewey case, because the court saw it as "cruel and unusual" to hand
down sentences regardless of circumstance.
Currently in Ottawa, the minority Conservative government is trying to
push through a new crime bill recommending mandatory minimums be used
more in Canada.
Bill C-2 calls for the sentences for serious gun crimes to rise to a
mandatory five years on a first offence, and seven years for a second
-- trafficking in guns would also see a hike in jail time for
offenders.
Under the bill, drug-trafficking offences would also result in
mandatory minimums for those convicted.
(Good move Tories. How about changing the constitution to get the
original mandatory penalties back?)
Timothy Morneau, 32, and two 19-year-old men stand accused of bringing
130 pounds of the drug Ecstacy into the U.S. with the intent to sell
it.
If convicted, each of the three will receive a mandatory minimum
sentence of 10 years in an American jail, plus massive fines and a
long period of supervised release.
Court documents allege that the teenagers, Christian Laurin and Alan
Mulder, were to be paid $1,000 each for their participation.
Neither Laurin nor Mulder has criminal records, and if convicted, the
10-year sentence would be huge in contrast with the minor payoff.
(While the payoff to them is a joke the payoff to the ppl farther up
the gang heirarchy is large. If you deal drugs or move them you should
expect to go to jail.)
MacFarlane said Friday that the increased use of mandatory sentences
isn't without problems.
"On one hand, you've got Parliament responding to public concerns that
the sentences are too low. On the other, the tradition in Canada is to
ensure judges can balance all factors and customize sentences that are
right for that case," MacFarlane said.
MacFarlane said the current system of "wise blending" used by judges
in weighing all related factors of a case before sentencing (like
prior convictions, and an accused's personal background) allows for
fairer sentencing.
(A lot of ppl disagree with that and judges have the lowest approval
rating of any profession.)
"The mandatory minimum distorts that," he said.
james.turner@freepress.mb.ca
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HA
is involved with
extortion, homicide, kidnapping, prostitution, meth and cocaine
dealing, rape, armed robbery and motorcycle theft and child
pornography
as well as phony currency and witness intimidation and obstruction of
justice. They have been known to bribe and scare law enforcement
officers and judges into doing their bidding. These ppl must be
rooted
out of the Cdn justice system. Two judges have actually done their
job
and declared HAMC a criminal org and the Victoria Times-Colonist is
calling for it to be banned as a terrorist org.
"The Hells Angels should be treated as a domestic terror organization.
We should encourage those who make and enforce our laws in their
efforts to eradicate them."
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=517a2096-953a...
The White Rock chapter Sgt.Of Arms, Villy Roy Lynnerup, recently was
arrested for trying to board an airplane at YVR
with a loaded firearm. Was probably going to crash the plane into the
Downtown courthouse or hold the passengers hostage in exchange for
the
release of Moms Boucher and all imprisoned full patch members. All
the
Hell's Angels, their supporters, associates etc. should be imprisoned
for twenty years
their children put in foster care and their assets seized.
Ppl are trying to get HAMC listed as a terrorist org. If you support
this
then write letters to editors of local newspapers and your local MP.
As well John Les the solicitor-general of BC has advocated banning
the wearing of gang colours such as biker patches in bars. Since HA
is
known to frequent Brandis and the Cecil and has links to
various bars in BC that would be an improvement. The gang has a
history of intimidating
bartenders, infiltrating unions involved in the bar industry, beating
and killing strippers and beating customers to death at random for no
reason. Contact your MLA as well as the local media and tell them you
want this implemented sooner rather than later.
VPD is appealing again for info about the homicide of Maria Yvette
Monzon who was shot dead on the westside of Vancouver. She was killed
by HA but the police have never stated that. There is a reward.
Colleen Reiter (Ryder?) of Surrey was killed by HAMC but the RCMP
refuse to confirm this.
The HA house on 108Ave between 13710 and 13734 continues to flout
civil society by not having house numbers. This white bldng located
across from Hindi Movie Hut has a red pick up truck 2641-HA parked
there. Do all the houses in your neighbourhood have visible house
addresses? Of course they do. So why is this home except from the
by-laws of Surrey?
We are awaiting the return of our JHVH in the flesh or his Son. His Son Yu'shua died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected and walked the earth for awhile then ascended unto Heaven. We await the Third Coming not the Second.
Scottish Quaker Robert Barclay-"The weighty Truths of God were neglected, and, as it were, went into Desuetude. ...
Who will be the last Coalition soldier to be maimed in Iraq?
Canadian troops out of Afghanistan and into
Darfur.http://www.amnesty.ca/instantkarma/petition.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI-xlbDzVbQ I Like Big Bibles
Good luck to anyone trying to learn Hebrew. I am looking for a Hebrew-Gregorian calendar in both Hebrew and English lettering.
I am looking for my missing automobile. Left in the care of Low's Tire (Firestone) on King George Hwy which has since gone out of business. A man who claimed to be a tow truck driver named Jerry (sounded Black) called me and said he had it
but when I called him back he denied it. JVD-968 "89 Plymouth Reliant white with red interior. Contact me by email or the GRC if you are one of those ppl.
