B.C. Injustice extends to White Collar Crime

We all know the Canadian criminal code has a very bad reputation for being a joke and that the Judges in B.C. are known for extending that bad joke to the extreme with bizarre decisions that are not consistent with how the other provinces interpret the same federal laws.

The Ian Thow case is another example but deals with white collar crime:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Thow+pleads+guilty+offers+apology/2630959/story.html

Here's a guy who pleads guilty to 20 cases of fraud and admits to conning clients out of $10 million. (The initial charge was more like $32 million) The guy was an investment advisor and advised clients to buy stock that didn't exist to fund his extravagant lifestyle. He robbed people of their life's savings to waste on decadence. That was cold hearted and malicious.

The crown and defense lawyers recommend a 7 year sentence. Since he's been in custody for a year he'd be given two for one credit for that pretrial time served. I thought they got rid of that. Anyways, the Vancouver Sun claims that parole is routinely given for white collar crime after one third of the sentence is served.

That means he could be out on the street in about four months which would mean he would have served 14 months for serious fraud in the millions that ruined peoples lives for his own personal extravagance. If that is not treason, I don't know what is.

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Update: Crown recommends 7 years, Court orders 9.

Well this is a small step forward but it's still a very small step. The underlining problems still exist. Why did the crown recommend 7 years when the maximum was raised to 14? Compared to what Throw did, what kind of fraud would qualify someone for 14 years? That's hard to imagine. http://www.vancouversun.com/Investment+guru+Thow+sentenced+nine+years+multimillion+dollar+fraud/2641705/story.html

Why did he get two for one credit for the year served when two for one credit was supposed to have been done away with? Will he get instant parole after serving one third of his sentence like most others do for white collar crime?

That remains to be the underlining problem. Parole after one third of the sentence is served. What this guy did was horrible. He needs to be held accountable. So here's the math. If the one third factor is true, then one third of 9 years is 3 years. Less two for one credit for the first year leaves one year left to serve for a total of two years served for serious fraud in the millions destroying many peoples lives. So he getting nine years instead of seven means he serves 2 years instead of 14 months. Is that justice?

Two RCMP officers investigated for sexual assault

I missed this one. CTV is reporting that two out of town RCMP officers have been charged with sexual assault: http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100220/bc_olympics_sex_assault_investigations_100219/20100220?hub=BritishColumbia

The RCMP admit 11 security forces here for the Olympics have been sent home but refuse to say why or expand upon what they did other than the two who were charged with shoplifting. Although 11 people getting sent home out of 10,000 is indeed a small number, RCMP officers committing sexual assault is a serious matter. Just as it is for a Military leader to be charged with sexual assault and murder: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585225,00.html

Without question the vast majority of law enforcement and military personnel are top notch. Yet when these horrific violations of public trust occur, we need to be vigilant in fulfilling our constitutional obligations to law and order.

Loving Dad shot and killed waiting trial for home invasion

All is quiet on the Western Front. Relatively speaking of course. A guy was shot dead in Prince George the other day. Nathan Alcide Marshall had appeared in court three days before he was murdered on home invasion charges: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Slain+father+faced+charges+home+invasion/2593285/story.html
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It reminds me of how that Independent Soldier who was shot and killed was billed as a loving father when he had cocaine and guns in the same apartment as his child. Getting someone pregnant doesn't automatically make you a person of character. How you handle that stewardship does. I blotted out the eyes and face of his child in this photo the family gave to the media.

The child is innocent. Like the child who witnessed his mother shot to death in the same car he was in. The photo gives the impression of good covered in evil. Give the kid a chance and stop exploiting children in your PR campaign to sell drugs.
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Now, on to the root of the problem. If this guy was involved with drugs in Prince George, then he was involved with the Hells Angels. The police and the media claim that no one can sell drugs in Prince George without the Hells Angels permission. We are told that the Renegades are a puppet club for the Hells Angels in PG that sell drugs and the Crew is another group affiliated with the Renegades and the Hells Angels that sell crack in Prince George.

Of late I am told that several members of the Crew in PG are crossing over to the Independent Soldiers in PG who are also another puppet club for the Hells Angels after most of the original IS leadership were murdered.

This news article http://www.vancouverite.com/2010/02/20/man-found-dead-two-hours-after-rcmp-got-shots-fired-call/ claims that he was revered by many as a loving father. Drug addict, home invasion, loving father. I'm having difficulty with the math. I'm not saying there wasn't good in him. Quite the contrary. Everyone has good in them. He appears to be a good guy who has been struggling with a few demons of his own.

Lets take the alcohol and drug addiction. Anyone can fall to those. Yet when those addictions arise, they become more important than anything else including family, friends and moral decency. Addictions can take over people and change them. That may not be the real person but real people have to live with the actions of addicts including the people who suffered the home invasion which he participated in.

This brings us back to the double edged sword. People who sell drugs and profit from the sale of drugs, like the Hells Angels in Prince George are the ones ultimately responsible for the crime and violence those drugs bring. Selling drugs is not noble and the Hells Angels sell drugs. The sale of drugs has brought violence to our community and the Hells Angels are not innocent of the violence as they erroneously claim.

The news article said the guy had time to think in prison and claims he realized he didn't love that life any more. So if that hearsay quote is true, it claims he admits at one time he loved that life - drugs, alcohol and home invasion. So he has an Epiphany and wants to change his life around and gets shot down before he gets the chance. Bad luck or were there more demons involved?

What is the Hells Angels biggest fear when a co accused is arrested? That they will have a change of heart and cut a deal to get less time served. This might not be the case here because time served for a first offense would not have been significant but the article claims he owed money.

OK let's do the math. He got involved with the wrong crowd in Prince George. He became addicted to drugs and owned people money. That is why he couldn't leave Prince George - he had drug debts. Who did he owe the money to? Could it have been anyone but the Hells Angels since they control the drug trade there?

We have read how the Hells Angels get violent if you owe them money for drugs. We have read about how they cut off someones finger for a $170 drug debt in Prince George: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=142bb2e6-b63f-4a1a-8b83-f0a349687af4

Scott Payne was an enforcer for the Crew who ultimately worked for the Hells Angels. He cut off a crack addicts finger for a $170.00 drug debt. Joshua Hedrick was once a member of the Crew in Prince George. He was picked up by the police with this same Scott Payne. Joshua ended up dead floating down the Fraser River: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/found+Fraser+River+part+Prince+George+gang/1952430/story.html
Was Joshua trying to turn his life around too? Did he have any drug debts in Prince George? What about the woman who was brutally sexually assaulted by someone who claimed her husband owed the Hells Angels money: http://www.theprovince.com/Five+years+jail+vicious+assault+prostitute+Maple+Ridge/2353301/story.html

If the family and friends of Nathan Marshall want to do their friend any justice, they will come clean and name the people he owed the money to and expose the real demons that enslaved him and finally robbed his children of a father. Call the Prince George Crimestoppers at: 1 800 222-TIPS http://www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca/about-us/contact-us.html
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Indeed there was a good side to Nathan: http://gangstersout.blogspot.com/2010/02/nathan-marshall-prince-george.html We owe it to him to let the world know who he owed money to and why.

Crown Appeals Donald Gardiner Decision

Finally one of Donald Gardiner's wacky decisions gets appealed by the crown: http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/realscoop/archive/2010/02/01/judge-erred-throwing-out-evidence-in-jon-bacon-gun-case-crown.aspx

Clearly Gardiner joins the ranks of Peter Leask and the snowflake Katherine Bruce for wacky decisions abusing the Charter of Rights making the judicial system in B.C. a bad cartoon of ineptness.

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As we showcase to the world how handing out free crack pipes in East Vancouver isn't working let's also show the world how this judicial vacuum has indeed created a constitutional crisis in Canada as described by Steve Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJTEsbC-ut0

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No one wants Canada to turn into a police state but right now we live with the other extreme. Criminals have guns but the law biding public don't and we are enablers for the gang war. It is a violation of public safety to let known gang members roams the streets with guns and not subject them to random searches.

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If a convicted gang member receives a prohibition from owning or possessing a firearm, then we need to follow up to make sure that term is enforced otherwise it's just another useless piece of paper. Waking them up in the middle of the night repeatedly could be deemed harassment. However, when these known gang members go out in public, they and their vehicles should be subject to random searches to protect public safety and the Charter rights of the general public.

Police Misconduct

The VPD recently received some very bad press over an incident where someone was badly beaten over a case of mistaken identity. http://www.canada.com/news/Vancouver+police+innocent+beaten+cops+didn+resist+arrest/2470061/story.html

http://en.video.canoe.tv/video/featured/featured-videos/1906868830/vancouver-police-apologize-after-man-beaten/62861964001

The majority of police out there are good and risk their lives to promote public peace and public safety. However, as one witness described it, bad apples exist in any company. The only difference is that in a democratic society we hear about the misconduct while in other places it happens but we never hear about it.

Recently, two Vancouver Police officers responded to a call of domestic abuse. They were told a husband was beating his wife. No one likes a wife beater. They responded to the call, woke the guy out of bed and beat him to a pulp. Only they got the wrong address and beat up the wrong guy. Now he's suing: http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/cbc-article.aspx?cp-documentid=23355467

There were a few mistakes made. Obviously the most blatant mistake is the mistaken identity. The brutality is the other. Even if the guy was accused of beating his wife, he deserves a fair trial. For example, in 80% of custody disputes there are false allegations of abuse. That in no way minimizes the fact that spousal abuse is heinous and is far too common in our society.

If the police caught him in the act and had to pull the guy off beating his wife, one could understand a certain amount of physical force being used to stop the attack. Human nature would cut some leeway if they gave him a few digs and maybe cracked a rib to leave a lasting impression. But give him the boots and cave in his eye? That was clearly excessive.

Covering such an act up is also wrong. Loyalty does not mean hiding abusive or illegal activity. Loyalty means protecting the public peace and safety by exposing and opposing all abusive violence.

Another disturbing case is where three off duty police officers robbed and beat an Indo Canadian newspaper delivery driver: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/West+police+officer+pleads+guilty+assaulting+newspaper+delivery/1801491/story.html

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090122/BC_off_duty_cops_assault_090122?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090123/BC_police_attackl_beating_090123/20090123/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

The first case was mistaken identity. The second case was bizarre and unprovoked. Even the famous taser incident at the Airport with the RCMP may have been excessive and an over reaction given the situation but the second case is most heinous and it appears that only one officer involved has been charged not three.

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Nevertheless, I want to be very clear that none of these mistakes or misconduct excuses the misconduct of others. The Hells Angels are still a criminal organization that profit from the sale of drugs. Police misconduct does not change or minimize that. It just makes us more aware of the different faces and uniforms some criminals can wear. Especially the likes of Ken Huston and Rob Sidhu: http://gangstersout.blogspot.com/2009/12/bad-cops.html

Perhaps this is what was meant when they were concerned that the security of the AG's office may be compromised when conducting an under cover investigation of the Hells Angels in Vancouver.

I'm not even going to comment on the RCMP investigation of the Surrey Six murder. Much: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Surrey+investigator+reassigned+relationship+with+witness/2487686/story.html

An RCMP officer having a relationship with a witness is unprofessional but does not minimize murder of innocent people. Just like it didn't with Gillian Guess: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_Guess

Welfare in East Vancouver

Ethan Barron from the Vancouver Province recently published an editorial about welfare in East Vancouver. It was a part of their ongoing series Operation Phoenix. http://www.theprovince.com/Time+stagger+welfare+payouts/2453749/story.html

Ethan's editorial is well written and true enough but I want to shed light on another side so his observations don't get misinterpreted as heartless stereotypes.

When I was young I remember my father telling me about a tradition within the United Church of Canada. First United has always been active in providing nonjudgmental support in East Van. My father told me how one of the traditions in becoming a minister for the United Church was to spend a night on the streets in East Van with a limited amount of money.

The intent of the exercise was to show the minister how hard it is to make ends meet on the street. He talked about how some ministers found shelters and food lines. He also said one minister in particular became very frustrated and overwhelmed with the task. He said she saw first hand how futile the struggle was. She realized that with the money she had, she had to chose between a meal and a night indoors, she couldn't have both.

This minister was so frustrated with the insanity of the task, she bought a large bottle of cheap wine with her money and shared it with the homeless on Pigeon corner. He told the story with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye and explained how many traditional members from the church were somewhat upset with her decision. He relayed the story to me without passing judgement as he thought it was amusing.

Indeed it was but it was sad as well. Sad because it was real. Welfare is not a lot of money. It's next to nothing. If you can't prove you have a permanent residence you even get less. You just get a food allowance not a shelter allowance. Even with the minuscule shelter allowance it really isn't enough to pay for a month in a dirty cheap hotel. For all practical purposes the money they give you for the month is not enough to last the month. So what do you do? It is enough to buy one night of stimulants to numb the pain of living on the street.

Ethan's article is right. This is where the drug dealers cash in. They exploit these people and get rich off them. One retired police officer likened these drug dealers to predators. Rightfully so. Closing down Riverview and putting all the mentally ill on the street was an abomination. Especially when the politicians who did so gave themselves two big fat raises and a gold plated pension after doing so. Abominable.

Not all homeless are mentally ill but many mentally ill are homeless and they end up in East Van because security guards move them on and corral them there. They push them out of Gastown and out of Chinatown and force them into East Van. Sid row as it's known.

Look how hard it is for the average person to make it between paychecks when they get paid every two weeks. Try budgeting your money when you get next to nothing once a month instead of every two weeks. And don't tell me it's easy living off the foodlines. I've volunteered there. Often the food donated is past the expiry date.

I remember seeing one female who looked uncomfortable and ashamed at the foodline. She looked at the mush for dinner and with a tear in her eye looked and me and apologetically said she couldn't eat it. No problem I said and took the plate away to avoid further embarrassment. I could see her pain. She was not scamming the system. She was adjusting to life on the street.

Addiction has always been an element of East Van. If it wasn't heroine or cheap wine it was aftershave which killed brain cells and reduced a person's ability to function. Now the crack epidemic is worse. A crack addict is far more violent than a heroine addict. Getting off the crack when dealers are in your face crying "Crack, Crack, Crack" as soon as you have a couple bucks in your pocket makes overcoming addition next to impossible.

We need to target the predators not the prey. We need to get rid of the crack dealers and the organized "clubs" who bring the cocaine into the country to be sold as crack. Food stamps are good. I'm all for giving the homeless food and shelter. I am opposed to buying them drugs. As Vancouver's Davinci said, staggering welfare payments is also a step forward. http://www.theprovince.com/Time+stagger+welfare+payouts/2453749/story.html

Peter Leak Decision under review

One of Peter Leak's decisions is finally being appealed. I'm not going to hold my breath. In my opinion the corrupt judicial system in B.C. covers it's own ass. http://www.theprovince.com/news/Appeal+court+asked+resurrect+charges+drug+trafficking/2435049/story.html

I am told Judges can't get fired here unless their decisions keep getting appealed. That is why they keep watering down their decisions so they don't get appealed. Time for the prosecution to put the same pressure the defense does by appealing bad decisions.

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Only that costs a lot of money and given the judicial treason we face, unlikely an internal mechanism will correct itself. We need legislation to fire bad judges.

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Here's one Peter Leask decision that was over turned: http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/CA/09/03/2009BCCA0388.htm

We need to make a list and fire him. He is clearly sitting on the wrong side of the bench.

Eyebrow Jobs

Speaking of Eyebrow Jobs, I was at Willowbrook Mall yesterday. I was walking through the mall and I passed a ladies make up place and two guys were sitting in chairs getting their make up done. I'm like WTF and do a double take and walk back to take a look.

Sure enough, two guys are sitting in chairs getting their eyebrows done at Meryle Normans in public for everyone to see. Now, I have no problem with someone being homosexual. I just have a problem with liars and fakes. Guys getting their eyebrows done at Merle Normans on a Saturday afternoon? That is fucked up.

What's happened to Langley? You don't see that shit in Surrey. I remember Langley. Quarter miles races out at Harvey road and Latimer road. Times have sure changed. Like I said, if someone is gay, I have no problem with that. I have a problem with someone pretending to be a hard core gangster from the hood and pulling that kind of lame ass bullshit.

Somehow I don't see Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino getting his eyebrows done at Merle Normans. Someone commented a while back on William Bowden's photo and said nice brow job. I'm like what the hell are they on about and took a closer look at the photo. Bloody hell, I said, he does have an eyebrow job.

Now, I'm all for personal hygiene and I realize that bushy Groucho Marx eyebrows aren't the most attractive thing to look at but WTF. These guys are pretending to be hardcore gangsters. Back in the day in the real City they would say yo bro you're noise is weak. Only that shit isn't just weak it's wacked.

Bilbo Baggins, the Hells Angel from Winnipeg charged with manslaughter that was caught with a retired cop with drugs and firearms getting his eyebrows done at Merle Normans. WTF is this world coming to?

Assault on prostitute in Maple Ridge

This one I find disturbing. We've read about Hells Angels enforcers cutting off a finger for a drug debt. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/found+Fraser+River+part+Prince+George+gang/1952430/story.html
Yet this case clearly opens Pandora's box. A guy viciously physically and sexually assaults a prostitute in Maple Ridge allegedly telling her her husband owed money to the Hells Angels and was in danger of being killed. http://www.theprovince.com/Five+years+jail+vicious+assault+prostitute+Maple+Ridge/2353301/story.html
Just because someone says that doesn't mean they are really affiliated with the Hells Angels on Hells Angels business but it is curious as to why he would say that.

The brutality of the assault is disturbing as well as the location. A physical and sexual assault on a prostitute in the name of the Hells Angels in the same general area as Piggy Palace. Disturbing indeed.

Hells Angel loses Airport Appeal

As much as I dislike the Hells Angels selling drugs and as much as I dislike the Hells angels playing the victim, I find this case puzzling. Why would anyone try to board an airplane with a loaded gun in their carry on? You put it on the conveyor belt knowing it will be x-rayed. http://www.theprovince.com/news/Hells+Angel+loses+appeal+over+handgun+conviction/2418444/story.html
That was Villy's defense. He claimed he didn't own the gun and no one would carry a gun on a plane knowing they would be caught. To me that argument does make sense. Peter Leask tried that with Glen Hehn. He claimed that Hehn would be out of his F-ing mind to keep that much cocaine in his own storage locker.

Only that case I disagree with completely. Glen Hehn may be a mean sob but he doesn't seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer. He doesn't seem that bright. He was caught red handed carrying the boxes of cocaine from his locker onto a truck. Two associates plead guilty and took the fall but that plea doesn't make sense. No Hells Angels associate is going to move that much cocaine without the Hells Angels knowledge and permission.

Villy's case at the airport is different. OK maybe toothless isn't very bright either. No doubt he's another mean sob. He was charged with mischief after allegedly breaking all the windows of a complainant's car with a baseball bat. Maybe he just forgot the gun was there and forgot to take it out. It sure wouldn't have been very bright.

However, the papers connecting the Hells Angels to the Jesters and the Outcasts found on his possession were an interesting read. Still part of me wonders if he was set up with the gun charge. That doesn't excuse the other charges he had. Yet if he wasn't set up he must have got his ass kicked for being so stupid.

Yet someone else just did the same thing: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/sentenced+months+concealed+handgun/2416261/story.html
As someone suggested another plausible motive was they were hoping someone working on the inside would have let them through like at the border. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=7be57f99-be99-4b5a-8b55-8dc28f7cf73b&k=11951

After all, the Hells Angels have been accused of infiltrating the airport security in Calgary and Edmonton: http://www.zimbio.com/Mark+Guardado/articles/34/Hells+Angels+infiltrated+airports+Edmonton

Maybe they realize wearing Hells Angels colours is like wearing a target that says shoot me: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=7204225