John Twomey, 62, led a gang that raided a warehouse near Heathrow Airport in February 2004, making off with £1.75m

John Twomey, 62, led a gang that raided a warehouse near Heathrow Airport in February 2004, making off with £1.75m.Fellow robber Peter Blake was jailed for life with a minimum term of 10 years and nine months.Glenn Cameron, 50, and Barry Hibberd, 43, were sentenced to 15 years and 17 years and six months respectively.All four men were found guilty of robbery and having a firearm with intent to commit robbery.The case was the first crown court criminal trial to be held without a jury in England and Wales for more than 350 years.

Twomey and Cameron, both of Hampshire, and Blake and Hibberd, of west London, targeted a Menzies World Cargo warehouseThe judge said Twomey was "clearly the organiser, planner and recruiter" and "the principal offenderTwomey, who the court heard has serious heart problems, was ordered to serve two-thirds of his sentence, minus 499 days in custody.

The father of five wiped away tears before being taken down from the dock.

His barrister, John Aspinall QC, said: "It is a distinct prospect that he will serve the rest of his days in prison."

Blake, who had led a "life of crime", was given a life term for robbery because of his previous armed robbery convictions.

The term was to run concurrently with two further life sentences for two firearms possession charges. He has already served 840 days.

Cameron was described by the judge as the "least intelligent" of the gang. He has already served 220 days in custody.

A gang of professionals

Hibberd, he said, was a "trusted part of the team".

"His physical presence and self-confessed continued willingness to use it to enforce or advance his views rendered him an attractive recruit to a crime such as this," added the judge.

It is estimated that the cost to the taxpayer to bring the men to justice has exceeded £25m - more than 14 times the amount that was stolen in the raid.

Speaking after the trial, Portia Ragnauth, chief prosecutor for Surrey Crown Prosecution Service, described the case as a "benchmark prosecution"

"Our jury trial system should not be undermined by any suspected intimidation and jury tampering.

"And we will continue to apply for a trial without a jury when we have evidence that justice would not be served otherwise." 

Photographs of known gangsters and their friends sporting custom-made jewellery, handling huge wads of cash - and in some cases weapons

Gang members have become so brazen that they are openly flaunting their criminal activity and boasting about their 'money-making' skills on Facebook.Photographs of known gangsters and their friends sporting custom-made jewellery, handling huge wads of cash - and in some cases weapons - appear on the pages of the popular social networking site.The photos, brought to the attention of the Bermuda Sun, are often published alongside captions bragging about how much money they make by "thugging".One picture shows a woman handling what appears to be a gold pistol. Others show Bermudian youths at rifle ranges in the U.S.Others celebrate the 'gangster' lifestyle with pictures of huge piles of cash and jewellery bearing the insignia of local gangs.One chain reads 'Certified Gangster - MOB', believed to refer to the Somerset gang who call themselves Money over Bitches. Another medallion features two gold pistols alongside the numbers '42', referring to the 42 gang, based in the St. Monica's Road area.Other photographs show groups of young men making 42 or Parkside hand signals alongside captions proclaiming their loyalty to the gang.Some even list their employer as Parkside Crew.Home Affairs Minister Colonel David Burch spoke to us about the matter yesterday and said the images were alarming. And he warned the authorities were watching.It does show an arrogance that borders on stupidity," he said.And he urged friends and family of the Facebook posters to start getting worried about what they were up to.These people are Bermudians, they are related to other Bermudians. You would think their families might want to step up and say something."Police are understood to be aware of the images."We are coming for them, no doubt about that," Colonel Burch said. "This is all information that is available to the police." 

Vivian Blake was working on a screenplay about his life with an American Gangster producer and the actor and director Nick Cassavetes,

Vivian Blake's peaceful death in a Kingston, Jamaica, hospital March 21 is a grim contrast to his life steeped in violence -- much of it in South Florida.
Blake, formerly of Miramar, was a founder of the ``Shower Posse,'' a politically connected drug gang that got its name from the bullets it rained down on its enemies.
Despite the dope, death and political muscle that still defines the gang today, Blake died of natural causes at age 53.
U.S. authorities on the front lines of the cocaine wars in the 1980s and early 1990s said the Shower Posse and its offshoots murdered about 1,400 people nationwide.
``These guys were ruthless,'' said Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti, who once served on a federal task force that investigated Blake. ``With the Mafia it was a .22 behind the ear, and with the Shower Posse it was indiscriminate shooting with machine guns.''
The Shower Posse doesn't make U.S. headlines much anymore. But with its deep and perverse ties to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, for which it gets out the vote, it endures as an international criminal force in a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world.
The extent of its power is on display in a political tug of war over a U.S. request to Jamaica for the extradition of the man alleged to be the Shower Posse's current crime boss, Christopher ``Duddus'' Coke.
Coke is second generation. His father, the late Lester Lloyd Coke -- or ``Jim Brown,'' as he preferred to be known -- was Blake's partner in the Shower Posse.
A federal grand jury in New York indicted Coke in August on charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in firearms. The U.S. Justice Department lists Coke as one of ``the world's most dangerous narcotics kingpins.''
On March 1, a State Department narcotics-control strategy report said ``pervasive public corruption'' on the island was hampering Coke's extradition.
``Jamaica's delay in processing the U.S. extradition request for a major suspected drug and firearms trafficker with reported ties to the ruling party highlights the potential depth of corruption in the government,'' the report said.
The president of the United States doesn't make speeches about drug suspects before Congress. But in Jamaica this month, Prime Minister Bruce Golding went to Parliament to say his government would not extradite Coke because the United States used illegally intercepted telephone conversations to build its case, according to The Jamaica Gleaner newspaper.
Opposition members, however, questioned why Jamaica's courts were not allowed to determine the merits of the government's concerns, the newspaper said.
Meanwhile, Vivian Blake's death serves as a reminder of the posse's violent past in South Florida, New York and elsewhere.
Blake was indicted in 1988 on 37 counts of racketeering and conspiracy by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale. Authorities linked him to eight murders and four attempted murders, and said he smuggled more than 1,000 tons of cocaine. The proceeds were used to buy and ship weapons back to his supporters in Jamaica.
After the indictment, Blake fled Broward County and returned to Jamaica. He was finally arrested there in 1994, and extradited to the United States in 1999. He pleaded guilty a year later to reduced charges, and was sentenced to 28 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Norman Roettger.
Blake was paroled and deported to Jamaica in January 2009.
``His crimes occurred prior to the adoption of the sentencing guidelines and as a result he served much less time than he would have had he been sentenced today,'' said Lee Stapleton, a Miami lawyer who prosecuted Blake when she was with the U.S. attorney's office.
``It sounds like a cliché to say this, but he was a very intelligent man and it's a great pity that he didn't use his intelligence for a legitimate purpose.''
Blake gained renewed notoriety in 2008 when the BET cable network telecast an episode on the Shower Posse on its popular American Gangster series.
At the time of his death, Blake was working on a screenplay about his life with an American Gangster producer and the actor and director Nick Cassavetes,
Last week's Associated Press obituary on Blake reported he ``had been apparently living quietly'' since his return to Jamaica.
Still, violence was a constant in Blake's life.
The AP reported that Blake's brother, Paul, was slain in November at his home near Kingston.

Police in Cumberland County and the surrounding area have confirmed that gangs such as the Bloods, the Crips and the Latin Kings are very much in evidence locally.

Police in Cumberland County and the surrounding area have confirmed that gangs such as the Bloods, the Crips and the Latin Kings are very much in evidence locally.

former Barrio Azteca gang member from El Paso suspected of being involved in the killing of three people tied to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez claimed the target of the attack was a detention officer who mistreated gang members at the El Paso County Jail.

Mexican authorities on Tuesday accused Ricardo "Chino" Valles de la Rosa, 45, of being a lookout for gunmen who carried out the hit.
Valles was arrested Friday by the Mexican army in Juárez and remains in custody in Mexico.
Valles alleged during his detention hearing that a gang leader ordered the hit on Arthur Redelfs, an El Paso County sheriff's detention officer, because Redelfs mistreated fellow gang members at the jail. Valles had another hearing Tuesday before a judge,The Barrio Azteca is a brother gang of the Juárez Aztecas gang, and both are aligned with the Carrillo-Fuentes cartel.
On March 13, gunmen shot and killed Redelfs, his wife, Lesley Enriquez Redelfs, who worked for the U.S. Consulate, and Jorge Salcido Ceniceros, a maquiladora supervisor and husband of consulate employee Hilda Antillon.
Valles said soon after his arrest that a gang leader ordered him to locate Redelfs the next time the detention officer entered Juárez. He said that on the day of the slayings he notified gunmen for the Aztecas that the white vehicle Redelfs was supposed to be driving had left a children's party at the Barquito de Papel hall.
In his statement to officials, Valles said he followed Redelfs' vehicle along Avenida Ribereña until the gunmen asked him to leave the area because "they had him." Redelfs and his wife were killed near the Stanton Street international bridge.
Because two white vehicles left the same party within minutes of each other, the gunmen decided to follow and attack both of them, officials said Valles told them. Redelfs and Salcido both drove white SUVs that day.
El Paso County sheriff's Deputy Jesus Tovar said Valles has a cocaine delivery charge pending against him in El Paso.
Redelfs was a detention officer for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office for more than 10 years.
Sheriff spokeswoman Chris Acosta said the Sheriff's Office had no comment on the allegations concerning Redelfs because the FBI was the lead agency responsible for any communications about the case.
"We will repeat what we said before -- that Arthur Redelfs was a professional who was well-respected," Acosta said.
Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza said the FBI and DEA are assisting with the investigation, mostly by providing intelligence.
"We still maintain that we have no information to indicate that any of the three were specifically targeted," FBI Special Agent Andrea Simmons said Tuesday. "U.S. law enforcement continues to work on this investigation and follow up on all leads." Soon after the killings, Mexican officials said the Aztecas gang was responsible. The FBI has extensively investigated the U.S.-based Barrio Azteca gang.
On March 18, U.S. investigators in El Paso County launched an operation to shake down Barrio Azteca members and their associates for information about the murders. A few days later, the Border Patrol received intelligence that the gang was considering some kind of retaliation for the operation.
Mexican officials said that several Mexican law enforcement agencies collaborated in Valles' detention, and that the federal attorney general's office was the lead agency for the investigation of the murders. Officials provided background about Valles, who was born in Juárez in 1964.
At the age of 6, Valles and his family moved to El Paso where he lived for 30 years. Valles, nicknamed "Chino," was a member of the notorious Los Fatherless street gang in South-Central El Paso.
On Oct. 15, 1995, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison on drug charges, and he met members of the gangs in La Tuna federal prison, including a leader that Mexican authorities identified as David Almaraz.
On July 25, 2007, Valles was released after serving 12 years in eight U.S.
prisons. That year he moved to Juárez, where he joined up with the gang members there.
Valles' body is heavily tattooed with ancient Aztec imagery. "El Paso" is inked on the back of his neck, and "Chino" on his abdomen.
The Mexican army arrested Valles on Friday in the slayings of four rival gang members in Juárez and on a weapons charge for being in possession of a
9 mm handgun.
Last Oct. 21, Valles allegedly gunned down 32-year-old Marco Zapata Reyes at a chicken restaurant named El Pollo Sinaloense, authorities said.
He is also accused of killing David Angel Contreras Regalado a week later.
Both victims were members of the rival Mexicles gang.
Officials said that in January, Valles allegedly shot and killed two members of the Artistas Asesinos (Artist Assassins, or Double A) gang who were in a blue-green Cadillac. Their names were not released.

Violence. Fear. Intimidation. It’s the trademark of Bloods and other criminal gangs in New Jersey.

Three weeks before Christmas last year, a pair of teenage cousins made a midnight trip to a Quick Chek convenience store in Ocean County. As they walked home to the Woodlake Manor condo complex in Lakewood, the boys were met with a night-piercing blast of bullets from the gun of a Bloods gang member, police say.Luis Enrique “Ricky” Garcia, a muscular 17-year-old from a rival gang who had no trouble defending himself in the past, was shot in the head and killed.Silence and fear took hold of the neighborhood as Garcia’s blood dried on the ground. Authorities couldn’t find any eyewitnesses. But then one woman did break the silence, providing what information she could about the shooting.Two weeks later, police arrested suspected Bloods member Jamil “Animal” Parson, 27, and charged him with Garcia’s murder. The motive, a law enforcement official familiar with the case said, was a dispute — between two gang members — about a girl.Police told no one of the lone witness, according to sources.Yet just hours after Parson’s arrest, a suspected gang member personally confronted the witness to deliver a threat. The message: We know who you are. Snitches get stitches.The full scope of gang violence, the extent of the power wielded by gangs, the money made through the drug trade and an increasing variety of crimes have made gangs the No. 1 threat to New Jersey residents, according to law enforcement authorities at all levels.Gangs were born in the inner cities. Today they claim as their domain not only cities, but many suburban communities — white-collar and blue-collar, rich and poor, black and white, Hispanic and Asian.They’re in cities like Vineland and Millville, and suburban communities like Buena and Franklin.They infiltrate and attend colleges, high schools and even elementary schools.They commit 80 percent of the crime in communities nationwide, according to the 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment.

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And they’re ratcheting up their illegal activities across the United States.

“There is no safe haven in New Jersey,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin said.

Gangs, as one ranking New Jersey Bloods member put it, are “everywhere.”

We are “in the nicest neighborhoods, the best schools — colleges, too,” a gang leader, called “P,” told Gannett New Jersey. (His identity and known crimes have been verified by sources in law enforcement.) “Where street life goes, violence goes. Just wait.”

Where there is money, gangs see opportunity.

“These people are,” said Lee Seglem, assistant director of the State Commission of Investigation, “domestic terrorists.”

Killed On A Rumor

When 21-year-old Bloods member Latyria M. Nealy was gunned down at the Jersey Shore in December 2006, her family and friends set up a shrine of flowers and balloons.

Her fellow Bloods brought five loaves of bread to the memorial site in Asbury Park. Why? The gang members had met behind her back to arrange her execution. They said she was “food” and would be “eaten” — killed. She had been marked for death because, authorities said, the gang mistakenly thought she had snitched on fellow members in a theft case.

“The Bloods will leave you cold, dead on the ground,” Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Thomas Huth said during the sentencing of Nealy’s killer, Samuel Ling, who was 19 when he shot Nealy in the head.

Superior Court Judge Ira E. Kreizman told Ling that Nealy’s mother died in October “of a broken heart.” He sentenced Ling to 30 years in prison.

Just feet away, Ling’s mother spoke about the devastation of one bullet and one moment.

“I would like to apologize to the Nealy family. It’s a tragedy. But we’ve both lost,” Phyllis Ling said through tears. “If there was any way I could take this back, I would.”
“You can’t,” a relative of Nealy’s replied.

“My son wasn’t raised this way,” Phyllis Ling explained. “He got caught up in a dangerous game … We’re so sorry, so sorry, so sorry.”

'A Difficult Road'

While murders and shootings may be the most obvious form of gang crimes, gang specialists in law enforcement say current movement into white-collar crime is insidious and harder to control.

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According to the 2009 federal gang assessment, insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, identity theft, weapons trafficking and home invasions are among the crimes other than drug trafficking committed by gangs. But indictments and arrests in these areas are sparse, limited by the lack of centralized data and intelligence, gang experts said.

Authorities wonder why there isn’t more outrage from the community.

“How is it acceptable that we’re relinquishing our fundamental rights to freedom without a whimper?” asked SCI’s Edwin Torres, a nationally recognized gang expert who specialized in juvenile gang members during his tenure with the state Department of Corrections. “How is it acceptable that we can’t go here, that we can’t wear that color, that we have to close down a school for a day because of gangs? How are we allowing this?”

Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Rory Wells said: “I always thought everything came in waves. That didn’t happen with gangs. They came. They ravaged. They left destruction in their wake. … It looks like we’re in for a difficult road — for 10, 15 years. Maybe the next generation will reject this.”

Or maybe not.

“We’re planning for the future,” said one Latin King member who long has played a leadership role in a Central Jersey-based branch of the gang that’s highly structured and business-oriented. “Kings are very versatile. Financiers? Sometimes those bigwigs are Latin Kings. We’ve got Kings on Wall Street.”

In fact, he said, today’s Latin King shuns tattoos, doesn’t mark the neighborhood in which he lives with identifying graffiti, avoids clothing that might brand him a gang member and either has, or is in the process of, getting a college degree.

“We’re a growth industry,” the gang member said.

Gangs And Schools

Authorities say schools are a prime growth market for gangs.

In Vineland, police said, high school was the No. 1 setting where gangs did their recruiting last year. In Buena, police said, gangs primarily recruited members before they entered high school.

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Are schools and parents equipped to handle the problem? The fact is, Torres said, “more kids know about the fundamentals of gangs than their parents do.”

“It’s amazing what kids know about gangs, their structure, what goes on,” said Lt. Dan Riccardo of the New Jersey State Parole Board. “At 10, 11, they’re so well-schooled. There are recruitment videos glamorizing gangs.”

Riccardo, coordinator of the Street Gang Unit for the Parole Board, said kids are “buying their way into gangs,” as opposed to getting “beaten in or ‘sexed’ in. For kids in affluent communities with disposable incomes, this is an option. They meet gang members at a school sporting event or a dance. Many colleges in this state have huge gang problems.”

Gangs aren’t only about kids on the streets.

College students from New Jersey last summer were charged in connection with a two-year bank fraud scheme orchestrated by the Nine Trey set of the Bloods. The gang members used their recruits to negotiate more than $654,000 in counterfeit payroll checks at bank branches in dozens of towns. Indicted last July in the scheme were six Bloods and 19 non-gang members who participated.

Most of the recruits have pleaded guilty. The names of the colleges they attended have not been released by police.

Gangs And The Community

Once again, in Lakewood, the fear factor came into play in fall 2008 as a murder trial was set to begin.

The morning Bloods members were to stand trial in connection with the murder of Jose Francisco Oliveras, the mother of the girlfriend of a key state witness was shot dead in her apartment.

Message sent: Snitches get stitches.

Or worse.

“You ask (a witness) to put a gun in a gang member’s hand, and they’re afraid not only of that person, but of the whole gang,” said First Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Peter E. Warshaw Jr. “Their reach is long.”

County Prosecutor Valentin says residents must get involved.

“The community needs to be a strong and compelling voice for why gang violence will not be tolerated,” he said. “They can help law enforcement on a daily basis. By staying silent, we empower criminals.”

The Parole Board’s Riccardo says the collective reach of gangs deeper into the community is all about one thing: greed.

“The root of all evil with gangs is money,” Riccardo said. “Money drives the gangs.”
It’s what they use, too, to lure an increasing number of people from an ever-diverse cross-section of New Jersey into their sphere.

Since gangs rely on ready cash flow, leaders can entice youngsters with instant cash.

“You wanna make money?” That’s the come-on Torres says gang leaders frequently use to draw in children of middle-school age.

“Come join my family” is another line used to make a 12-year-old feel wanted and accepted.

Indeed, gangs are everywhere. “Even in the nice cities,” said La Grima, the nickname of a ranking member of the MS-13 gang based at the Jersey Shore. “Maybe your neighbor is selling kilos. You never know.”

Three Surrey slayings in 10 days does not signify a return to rampant gang violence

Three Surrey slayings in 10 days does not signify a return to rampant gang violence in the city, Mayor Dianne Watts said Sunday.

She said that despite two weekend slayings 12 hours apart, and a March 17 hit on a teenager, police have no indication there is a resurgence in gang warfare.

In fact, the Sunday-morning stabbing death of a young man in Cloverdale and the Saturdaynight shooting at a north Surrey McDonald's are unrelated to each other and to the murder of Huzaifa Kiani 10 days earlier, Watts said.

"There is no indication whatsoever that gang violence is on the upswing again," Watts said in an interview. "I think we have made significant strides in dealing with the gang problem in the Lower Mainland."

She said the slayings are tragic, but "they are not random acts."

"It is disturbing that conflicts between young people are getting resolved with guns and knives," Watts said.

Homicide investigators remained at two separate Surrey murder scenes throughout Sunday.

Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said investigators determined immediately that there was no link between the two weekend slayings.

The first victim, a 39-year-old known to police, was shot to death inside a busy McDonald's at Scott Road and 110 Ave. at about 6 p.m. Saturday with horrified onlookers nearby.

The second victim, a 22-year-old male also known to police, was stabbed after a series of fights outside a house party near 192nd Street and 70th Avenue. Police had been called to the party twice before the 4:20 a.m. call.

"Upon police arrival a male stabbing victim was identified. B.C. Ambulance Service was dispatched immediately as the male victim was in severe medical distress," Carr said Sunday. "Several persons at the scene were arrested and brought to the Surrey RCMP office for questioning in relation to the incident."

The man died about an hour later in hospital.

Carr said investigators would be canvassing the area into today for information about the stabbing.

Before Kiani's March 17 slaying, IHIT had not opened a new file in two months.

Carr said while the violence is disturbing, there is nothing to indicate a new rash of gangland slayings like those that plagued Metro Vancouver last year.

"The second murder Sunday has nothing to do with the first one on Saturday. The second one is not gang-related or drug-related. It is a party spillover-type situation," Carr said.

As for the Saturday slaying, Carr said investigators have identified the victim, who was from Surrey, but not the suspect who escaped on foot.

Police were canvassing Sunday for surveillance footage of the murder and its aftermath.

Carr said there was a camera capturing images right inside the McDonald's.

"I think there is some evidence on tape," Carr said. "The tape in the McDonald's restaurant is going to be vital to the investigation."

Carr said that although the murder took place in a busy fast-food restaurant, it doesn't appear the killer arrived intending to take out his target.

Because the shooting happened near the back of the restaurant, by the bathrooms, the impression is that the two men knew each other and had a chance exchange that led to violence at close range.

"It wasn't a case where a guy walked in and started shooting across the restaurant. Those types of shootings, they are extremely frightening," Carr said.

2-year-old Able Guerrero was arrested Tuesday night during a routine traffic stop

reputed member of the Mexican mafia is behind bars Wednesday morning on kidnapping charges.22-year-old Able Guerrero was arrested Tuesday night during a routine traffic stop. Police say Guerrero is one of eight people involved in the January kidnapping of three construction workers on Buffalo Street.The men were being held for a $40,000 ransom. When two of them managed to escape, the third was later freed.All eight suspects are now being held on kidnapping charges.

Joseph is the leader of the "Gangs des 67," a powerful St. Michel street gang that is named after the bus route that runs though the district.

Ninety minutes after surviving a Mob-style hit at his upscale clothing boutique in Old Montreal, Ducarme Joseph was seen speaking to a hit man in St. Michel, probably plotting revenge for the brazen midday shooting, a police detective testified Monday.
Joseph escaped out the back door Thursday as two masked gunmen sprayed his boutique with 50 bullets, killing his bodyguard, Peter Christopoulos, 27, and store manager Jean Gaston, 60.
Two other people were injured, including a 31-year-old electrician who was doing renovations in the store. Both are in stable condition.
Joseph was described in court yesterday as one of Montreal's "most dangerous street gang leaders."
The swiftness with which Joseph was planning a revenge attack surprised police officers who began tailing him after a police source spotted Ducarme in his old neighbourhood of St. Michel talking to a hit man nicknamed "Gunman," Det.-Sgt. Jean-Claude Gauthier, a street gang expert with the Montreal police, testified in Quebec Court.
When police arrested Joseph the day after the shooting, they found a sketch of a man on a paper with the words: "Are there photos of the guys to be eliminated."
"He survived the attack and will come out of this stronger than ever," Gauthier said when describing Joseph's stature among street gang members.
Judge Gilles Garneau revoked Joseph's bail in a previous assault case and ordered him detained until that case is finished, saying that if he were to be released, he probably would "work to identify those responsible for the attack, and there is a strong possibility that he would commit criminal acts related to the crime."
The day following the shooting, Montreal police arrested Joseph after he left the Notre Dame de Grâce office of construction magnate Tony Magi - not far from the site on Upper Lachine Rd. where Nick Rizzuto Jr., the son of reputed Mob boss Vito Rizzuto, was slain in December.
Joseph was arrested for violating his bail conditions by being in the company of two of his alleged criminal associates: Stanley Stevenson Fleurant, 30, and Dutroy Charlotin, 31. Both men were also detained yesterday for similar bail condition violations.
Police didn't speculate on why Joseph was at Magi's office the day after the shooting, but Joseph has been mentioned in police requests for search warrants associated with Magi, including one in November that said Magi hired Joseph in July to collect outstanding loans.
Also in the search warrant, a police informant alleges that in exchange for his services, Magi, who has no criminal record, set Joseph up in a downtown condominium.
When Montreal police spoke to Joseph after the boutique shooting, he denied being at his FlawNego clothing store on St. Jacques St. and said he didn't know why anyone would target him.
"He showed no remorse or sadness," testified Det.-Sgt. Pascal Leclaire, who spoke to Ducarme after the shooting.
"He said he can't change what happened."
Joseph returned to his store Thursday night, to the surprise of police who were still on the scene investigating.
The police found a Rastafarian-style wig discarded as the attackers fled on foot, several guns, a glove and surveillance tapes. Investigators hope to get real hair samples from the wig.
At yesterday's bail hearing, prosecutor Anne-Marie Otis said she wanted Joseph to forfeit the $50,000 bail he had posted in his assault case because he broke his bail conditions. The judge granted the request.
Joseph's lawyer, Gary Martin, asked the judge to release his client after he had served a seven-day sentence for breaking his bail conditions, saying police claims that Joseph was plotting a revenge attack were "just speculation."
But the judge disagreed, saying there was ample evidence that Joseph would try to find out who was responsible for the attack.
Joseph has a criminal record dating back to 1987 for armed assault, weapons possession, extortion and sexual assault. His next court date is Friday.
Police contend Joseph is the leader of the "Gangs des 67," a powerful St. Michel street gang that is named after the bus route that runs though the district.Gauthier said the gang is affiliated with the Crips, or Blues, and said Joseph is an admirer of a U.S. Crips gang called Folk Nation, based in Chicago.Police say the insignia of the Folk Nation gang, a pitchfork, is inscribed on the sign for Joseph's boutique, called FlawNego.

"shot caller" of the Salinas Norteño gangs.

 gang leader tearfully told jurors Tuesday he thought he was about to be killed by unknown assailants when he accelerated in reverse out of a Salinas apartment complex and ran over a sheriff's deputy.
Raymond Campos, 30, wept as he testified that he shed his gang lifestyle years ago and has devoted himself to his wife and children since he was released from prison in 2008. His gang tattoos, he said, are remnants of his teen years.Sheriff's officials have described him as the "shot caller" of the Salinas Norteño gangs.
Campos is charged with attempted murder and assault on peace officers in connection with the April 10, 2009, incident. He and co-defendant Michael Diaz are charged with possession of about 5 ounces of methamphetamine for sale. Both have denied the charges.
In equally tearful testimony earlier in the three-week trial, deputy Jesse Piñon and Salinas police officer Jeffrey Alford said they watched Campos in the late evening hours make "hand-to-hand" exchanges with the drivers of two vehicles in the parking lot of apartments at 57 Natividad Road.
As they got out of their unmarked car to make an arrest, wearing street clothes and task force vests, Campos got into his car and began to back out. Piñon said Alford tapped on the car and opened the door, telling Campos to stop, but the suspect "punched it." Piñon was knocked to the ground by the open door, dragged and then run over, breaking his collarbone.lford testified that he chased the car out into the street and fired five shots through its windows before Campos fled. His car was found wrecked a short time later, but the suspect was gone. Campos was arrested three weeks later.Meanwhile, police found two envelopes and a safe containing methamphetamine on the ground in front of and behind the apartment. A key on Campos' ring fit the safe.On Tuesday, Campos said the entire incident was an accident and a mistake. He said he had stopped by the apartment of his longtime friend, Adriana Lerma, to pick up pajamas for her and Diaz's children, who were going to spend the night with his children. Lerma and Diaz were arguing, so he waited outside.
He said a white Bronco came in and parked in Lerma's parking space. He went to the driver and asked him to move. Initially rankled, the man agreed and they shook hands.He returned to the apartment and interrupted the couple, telling them he was going to the store and would be right back for the pajamas. As he left, an acquaintance, Valente Flores, pulled into the parking lot.
Campos said Flores had earlier asked him to hold a key for him and now he wanted it back. Campos said he was in a hurry, the key was in his car and he would give it to him as soon as he returned. His wife had taken theirs and Lerma's four children to get pizza and he "didn't want to hear it" from her if he was delayed returning home.
He got into his car and started to back out when he looked in the rearview mirror through tinted windows and saw "shadows" or silhouettes of two people approaching from behind, one holding something in his hand.
"Growing up the way I did, I thought it was a gun," he said, adding that he could not see what the people were wearing.
"Out of nowhere, my door pops open," he said. "I thought, 'This is it' ... I thought I was going to die."
Campos said there had been 10 or 11 shootings in Salinas in the preceding three months, his house had been burglarized and, because he'd become an inactive gang member, "I'm a walking target."
He said he aimed his car for the driveway and sped away. As he backed onto Natividad, he heard shots fired. He slouched into the driver's seat, with one hand shifting gears and the other, with limited reach, incrementally steering the car onto the street. As more shots rang out, he said, he sped away.
Prosecutor David Rabow alleges Campos purposely steered toward Alford.
Believing he was being chased, Campos said, he fled to his father's in Fremont. When he found out on the news that night that his would-be "attackers" were peace officers, "I thought I was a dead man walking."
Under questioning by defense attorney Miguel Hernandez, Campos told how he had tried to reform himself since he was released from a two-year prison commitment in 2008.
At the time of the incident, he was attending technical school in Fremont. He said between his school and parental commitments he had no time or desire for gang life.
In cross-examination that will resume this morning, Rabow questioned Campos about his gang involvement and tattoos. According to earlier testimony, Campos is a registered gang member and is housed in a Norteño pod at the jail.
Other than a burglary he committed as a teen, he said, his only crimes were those for which he'd been convicted, weapon and drug charges.
Diaz, who was inside Lerma's apartment during the April 2009 incident, is charged with possession of drugs for sale.
On Tuesday, defense attorney Elizabeth Navarro had her investigator show jurors a duplicate of the window through which Rabow alleges Diaz threw the 31-pound safe.
The safe was found on the opposite side of a 6-foot fence and exhibited no markings to indicate it landed hard on the landscape rocks. In her opening statement, Navarro suggested the safe was left at the scene by Flores, the man who'd come looking for his key and who was arrested later carrying a large quantity of drugs and $600 cash.

The Blood Bank Center of New Jersey

Bloods have been caught using college students to pass fraudulent checks. The net proceeds from the bank fraud topped $654,000 before the scam was shut down last year. The gang members were so brazen that at least one of the phony checks was from the "The Blood Bank Center of New Jersey."

Other findings include:
-- Schools are the growth area for gangs. Anti-gang education is needed and
should start, in some cases, at early as the third grade.
-- Gangs control 90 percent of the $1 billion-a-year drug trade.
-- Law enforcement is hindered by a lack of centralized data and intelligence
system. Authorities at all levels are struggling to keep up with the growth of
gangs. There are an estimated 1 million gang members in the U.S., with 20,000
members in New Jersey alone.

Ducarme Joseph appeared via video link.

The forty-one year-old made a short appearance , he was formally accused of breaching bail conditions related to a previous assault charge and being in possession of  a silencer.His bail hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Police Ducarme managed to escape Thursaday's shootout unharmed through the back door of his store.
He was arrested for allegedly associating with two men that he had been prohibited from having contact with.
One of them men killed was Joseph's bodyguard, 27 year-old Peter Christopolous.
The other appears to have been an innocent bystander.
Two other people, aged 29 and 31, were seriously injured during the shooting, though their injuries are not life-threatening.Montreal police now say they believe the shooting was a professional hit in response to the December murder of Nick Rizutto Jr., the son of the reputed head of Montreal mafia, Victor Rizutto.
"It appears to be a settling of accounts case, It does seem like something linked to organized crime." said Montreal police spokesperson Anie Lemieux. A former homicide detective with the provincial police says the shooting has all the markings of a revenge killing.
"They had to show revenge, if they want to show they still have strength." said John Galianos,
"They're not just gonna lie down, and let people step on them, it's a group of honor, men of honor, they're not going take it to the court, they'll settle it their way."

Cecil Mulkey, 19, and James Ashley, 21, identified as leaders of the 8th Street Boyz gang were arrested on federal drug and weapons charges

Cecil Mulkey, 19, and James Ashley, 21, identified as leaders of the 8th Street Boyz gang were arrested on federal drug and weapons charges. Aarmon “Murda Mook” Askew, 21, a top member and enforcer of the X.Y.I.D. Bloods set was also picked up on federal drug and weapons charg.A third 8th Street Boyz member, Howard Welch, 18, was arrested and charged in connection with a Saturday morning shoot-out in the 3000 block of Pine Avenue.The 8th Street Boyz, who are affiliated with the notorious Crips street gang, and the local Bloods set are believed to be locked in a battle over the city’s lucrative pot trade.“We are developing more information each day and I expect more arrests,” the police superintendent said.Chella also announced that police will increase their presence on the city’s streets by increasing the number of officers assigned to the RAC Unit and joining forces with the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department, the New York State Police, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and state and county parole and probation officers.“We will work with our partners in law enforcement,” Chella said. “We are going to get this under control. Those who don’t want to abide by society’s rules will pay a steep price.”The new RAC officers will work in plainclothes and unmarked cars and will be on the streets at varying times of the day and week.
Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour said he had instructed his patrol deputies working in the towns of Niagara and Wheatfield to be prepared to respond to trouble in the Falls if necessary.“We’re close by and ready to do what we need to do to help,” Voutour said.Chella said uniformed police patrols are also likely to be increased and he said Mayor Paul Dyster had approved the use of additional overtime money to pay for added cops on the streets.“We want to make sure our posse is bigger (than the street gangs),” Dyster said.
The mayor also asked for help from parents and the community.“Don’t let your kid make the bad guy’s posse bigger,” the mayor said. “Keep your kids from being part of the problem.”The newly sworn-in United State Attorney for the Western District of New York, William Hochul, said his prosecutors were ready to join in the gang fight by using federal racketeering laws and tough sentencing guidelines. He pointed to the break-up of violent street gangs in Buffalo over the last 20 years as the model for what can be done in the Falls.
“The beginning of the end of street violence in the Falls has begun,” Hochul said. Niagara County District Attorney Michael Violante said gang members charged with state crimes can expect a tough time in court.
“They want attention,” Violante said, “Well, they will get all the attention we can give them in prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law.”Chella said the increased patrol activity has already started.

Brandon John Valdez, 24, was already in custody for violating parole when Whittier police arrested him

Brandon John Valdez, 24, was already in custody for violating parole when Whittier police arrested him Thursday for the May 16 shooting of Daniel "Danny Boy" Quijada, 30, of Whittier.
Quijada had just left his apartment in the 6300 block of Milton Avenue when he was gunned down outside his building as children played nearby. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Along with the murder charge, Valdez is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon with prior convictions, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the county District Attorney's Office.Prosecutors further allege that Valdez personally used a handgun to commit the crime, and that it was done for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
He was being held Friday at the Inmate Reception Center in lieu of $2.1 million bail.
According to court records, Valdez has several prior convictions - in July 2006 for committing battery while he was in prison; in June 2006 for being a felon in possession of a firearm; and in June 2005 for being under the influence of a controlled substance and theft.
He also has a May 2005 conviction for theft.

Since January 2008, Whittier has imposed an injunction against Valdez and 39 other members of the Whittier Varrio Locos gang, whose activities are legally restricted within a "gang enforcement safety zone" bordered by Painter Avenue, Beverly Boulevard, Pickering Avenue and Whittier Boulevard.
Quijada, whose friends said was not in a gang, was shot within that safety zone.
Even so, Officer Mike Dekowski said the injunction has been successful, working to put most of the active members of the gang in jail or prison.
The injunction does not ban Varrio Loco members from being within the safety zone, but it restricts their activities within the area. Members are barred from having weapons, associating with other WVL members and throwing gang signs.
They also cannot engage in tagging or loitering, possessing, using or selling drugs, impeding vehicles and people, and trespassing.

Owner of a Montreal fashion boutique where two men were murdered on Thursday has been arrested.

Montreal police have reportedly arrested the ex-street gang leader who owns the Old Montreal store where two people were killed and two others injured in yesterday's gangland shooting.Montreal police will only confirm that the person they arrested was at the scene of the shooting.Reports say it's Ducarme Jospeh, the ex-street gang leader who owns the Old Montreal store where the shooting happened.He was reportedly arrested with two other men. They all face charges in an aggravated assault last fall. Joseph was ordered not to communicate with them pending trial.Montreal police inspector of special investigations Charles Mailloux says the charge is breach of bail conditions.Joseph was reportedly arrested so he could be protected and put in isolation or because he and his two co-accused were plotting retaliation.Mailloux won't say if Joseph was the intended victim in the shooting."It's one of the scenarios we work on," Mailloux told CJAD News.
The suspect will be officially charged in the morning via video conference at the Montreal courthouse. of a Montreal fashion boutique where two men were murdered on Thursday has been arrested.
The shop owner hasn't been formally identified, but police say he is a 41-year-old man. Police say the arrest is tied to allegations that the man violated his bail violations.
The suspect will likely appear in court through a video link on Saturday.
Police have been reluctant to comment on the man's identity, but business directory records show that the owner is listed as 41-year-old Ducarme Joseph.
Court records show that Joseph was charged with weapons violations last September, CTV Montreal reports. His bail conditions stated that he could not communicate with people linked to criminal activity.
The arrest comes a day after Old Montreal was shut down by a brazen, daylight shooting that killed two people and injured two others.
Sources have said that the shooting bears all the hallmarks of a professional hit, and police said that the fashion boutique had been on their radar.
The incident happened Thursday afternoon, when two gunmen walked into the Flawnego clothing boutique and started shooting. Four people were shot, two of whom died. Police were alerted about the shooting at 1:45 p.m.
The killers fled the scene on foot, discarding parts of their disguises -- including a Rastafarian-style dreadlocked wig -- into the street.
Detectives remain at the scene on Friday, though most police tape has been removed from the crime scene located near the city's well-known Notre-Dame Basilica.
CTV Montreal's Rob Lurie said Yvan Delorme, the city's police chief, had made a personal appearance at the scene yesterday, an indication that the force was taking the incident very seriously.
Montreal police Const. Anie Lemieux said police had been watching the location where the shooting took place for some time. And she said investigators have theories as to who the killers were seeking to harm.
Lemieux described the suspects as two tall, black men who wore disguises that included ski-masks and wigs.
"A lot of elements were seized on the scene of this incident and also around the place where this incident took place," Lemieux said.
Four victims
One victim drove himself to hospital after the violence. Two of the victims have died, another two were in stable condition after the shooting.
Lurie reported that three of the four shooting victims are known to police and they ranged in age from 27 to 59 years of age.
The fourth victim was an apprentice electrician who is in stable condition with serious injuries. Police believe "he was just someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Lurie said.
Several witnesses were present at the time of the shooting, including construction workers and other bystanders, some of whom saw the killers taking off their disguises as they fled the scene.
"Some people did see the suspects leaving the scene, walking through the scene and sort of shedding their disguises, and so police are looking for that," Beauchemin said.
Rizzuto connection?
Police sources have indicated investigators believe the shooting could be linked to the December murder of Nick Rizzuto Jr., the son of reputed Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto, who is currently serving a 10-year sentence in a Colorado prison for racketeering.
But the Montreal police force has made no official comment on the possible link to the Rizzuto murder.
Experts have long predicted reprisals for the younger Rizzuto, who was only 42 years old when he was gunned down in December. His killing remains unsolved.
Nick Rizzuto Jr., was named for his grandfather, 86-year-old Nicolo Rizzuto, who pleaded guilty to two charges of tax evasion in a Montreal court last month.

Three suspected members of the 31 Flavors have bond hearings scheduled next week.

Antonio Dennis, Perry Collins and Andre Ellis, three of the 13 defendants facing drug and racketeering charges, were scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, but at least one of the defendant's attorneys failed to appear, and the matter was reset for March 25.
Assistant District Attorney Mike Ruddick said the court could possibly set a trial date at the bond hearings, and other suspected members of the gang are in some phase of the pre-trial hearing process.
As the defendants in the case move their way through the system, court documents have illuminated the Monroe Police Department investigation into the organization. The investigation document cites several confidential informants who portrayed an organization with loose ties but dedicated members.
The gang would show up to a skating rink on U.S. 165 wearing "31 Flavor" T-shirts depicting ice cream cones and bearing the word "gunz." Informants said the members would feud with gangs from Orange Street, "AQ" or Athens Quarters and Oregon Trail, resulting in a gunbattle. The rap sheet for different members included charges of kidnapping, break-ins, battery, threats, fights at barbershops, robberies and drug dealing.
The investigation report quoted the members under questioning as claiming no strict organization, but they nonetheless gave shape and form to the group.
A prospective member had to have an existing member vouch for him, sell drugs and bring the money back to the group to join. Only members with "swagger" were considered, and while there was no hierarchy, the ones with the drug connections tended to have more influence or "stroke." Members were reticent to speak to police after a raid on Dennis' grandmother's house, because the woman took care of them.
The gang, according to investigative report, also had a code. If one member was involved in a fight, he could count on other members to come to his aid. If police found evidence of a crime, a member who was not "on paper" — probation — would step up to take the charge rather than have another member violate his parole.

Steven Michael Herman, the 28-year-old Richmond man police say is a known member of the Red Scorpions gang

Steven Michael Herman, the 28-year-old Richmond man police say is a known member of the Red Scorpions gang, remains in custody on three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of possession of a firearm contrary to order.Dianna Lynn Gazeley, 23, faces the three drug charges and his been released on $1,000 bail. She returns to court April 8.The pair were arrested on Thursday evening after police converged on two units in a building at 1108 Sunset Drive to execute drug warrants.
Police allege Herman was inside one of the units when they arrived, and had a loaded handgun within reach at the time of his arrest.While officers were there, two women arrived at the apartments and were arrested. Gazeley is before the courts, and a 20-year-old woman was released on a promise to appear in court later.
While police were in the apartments, they seized three ounces of crystal methamphetamine, half an ounce of powdered cocaine, 1.5 ounces of crack cocaine, a large quantity of steroids, a bulletproof vest, $25,000 cash and other stolen items.

Douglas John Ward, 25, was the street-fighting ringleader who plotted for a shotgun to be fired into a Guisborough home

Douglas John Ward, 25, was the street-fighting ringleader who plotted for a shotgun to be fired into a Guisborough home, a court heard.
He was the prime mover directing a gang in a Bank Holiday weekend revenge hunt, then the shooting on Allison Street on May 4 last year.
While a mystery gunman pulled the trigger, Ward was on bail - months after he was caught with a kilo of heroin in a cross-country supply trip.
He and his underlings, co-ordinator and book-keeper Darren Empson and footsoldier dealer Daniel Storey, are serving long sentences for drug dealing.
Thought by police to be one of the most feared drug pushers in the region, Ward now faces even more time in prison for the Guisborough shooting.
Empson and Storey too face the prospect of more time inside for being part of the gang search in the weekend before the Bank Holiday gunfire.
Storey pleaded guilty to violent disorder while Empson was convicted by a jury, though he was cleared of involvement in the shooting itself.
Their case can be fully reported today after the end of the firearm trial on Friday.
Last October, a group of six Teesside men were jailed for a total of nearly 35 years after admitting conspiring to supply Class A drugs.
Guisborough kingpins Ward, of Wilson Street, and Stephen Petch, of Dunsdale, were each jailed for seven-and-a-half years. 

Oscar Arriola Marquez appeared in federal court in Denver Wednesday to be advised of the charges.

Oscar Arriola Marquez appeared in federal court in Denver
Wednesday to be advised of the charges. He was extradited to
Colorado from Mexico on Tuesday.
Authorities say Arriola Marquez helped ship 440 pounds of
cocaine a week through a ranch in Peyton, Colo., for distribution
to Chicago and New York City.
Arriola Marquez was indicted in Denver in 2003. He was arrested
in Mexico in 2006 and has been held there ever since. He is due in
court Monday for an arraignment hearing.
Arriola Marquez's brother, Miguel, pleaded guilty to drug
trafficking in 2007 and awaits sentencing.

acquitted Rodil Nochez, a leader of a San Francisco chapter of the MS-13 street gang

acquitted Rodil Nochez, a leader of a San Francisco chapter of the MS-13 street gang and the first member to go before a jury. Prosecutors hardly seemed to relish a trial against Nochez, who is a mere minnow in a much larger government trawl targeting the violent MS-13 gang. Trying Nochez meant exposing a key informant to cross-examination, and that record will likely be scrutinized by lawyers representing the bigger fish. Any inconsistencies could be used to cut holes in the net

Twelve Street Gang was in rivalry with the Tivoli Gang based at the upper section of Darling Street

 Twelve Street Gang was in rivalry with the Tivoli Gang based at the upper section of Darling Street, Savanna-la-Mar, and was also involved involved in extortion, breakings and a spate of robbery committed in the parish." I reject his claim. He has to come with the evidence that these guys going out and committing crimes and return to the community he must bring that evidence to us. Additionally I did my research and discovered that Cooke Street men and the men at Darling Street are friends," Russell told the Observer West.(DSP Simms) also said three of the gang members have surrendered to the police since last week. They are Delbert Foster also called Popsie who was wanted for murder; and brothers Robert Boreland and David Wilson, who were wanted for illegal possession of firearm and shooting with intent.Meanwhile, Superintendent Dezeita Taylor, commander of the Westmoreland Police Division in response to the resident's claim of being harassed by the police, promised to present them with with information of their rights at a soon -to-be convened meeting.

Daniel C. Miller , now 20, acknowledged that he had never met Robinson before the June 15, 2008, shooting and had no beef with him.

Daniel C. Miller , now 20, acknowledged that he had never met Robinson before the June 15, 2008, shooting and had no beef with him. However, his friend and driver that night, Austin Fry, had accused Robinson of stealing $500 from Fry.Tensions had been building after Robinson broke away from the Omaha Mafia Bloods, a group authorities have described as a gang or wannabe gang of Miller's friends and fellow Millard teenagers, and formed his own group.Miller also acknowledged that he understood that Robinson's group was “talking (expletive)” about the Bloods — “saying we were weak and that we wouldn't do anything.”Prosecutors say that a gang beef, not self defense, was the real reason Miller came with his .357 Magnum revolver, shot twice and asked questions later.Witnesses have testified that Robinson charged the car with at least two or three others behind him in single file, preparing for a fistfight. Those witnesses and authorities have said there were no signs that Robinson had anything other than a 12- to 18-inch novelty bat in his hands. No other weapons were recovered.Prosecutor John Alagaban, a deputy Douglas County attorney, picked at Miller's testimony, suggesting that he was minimizing his actions and vilifying Robinson. Alagaban said Miller wouldn't even admit he was a member of the Omaha Mafia Bloods, instead describing himself as “associated” with them.Alagaban noted that Miller lied to police about where he got the gun and where he stashed it after the shooting. Miller said he did so because he wanted to keep his friends out of trouble.“Although you're not in a gang,” Alagaban said sarcastically, “you were lying for these gang members' benefit?”“I was trying to keep them as much away from it as possible,” Miller said.Alagaban also pointed out that Miller hid the gun at a playground near 126th and L Streets. Instead of burying it or hiding it in the tall brush, Miller and another man wrapped it in a red bandana and placed it in a bush so fellow gang members could retrieve it later.Omaha police fetched it first.Alagaban also suggested that Miller had the gun loaded and ready when he pulled up to the apartment complex near 128th and Q Streets.With only two rounds in the revolver, Alagaban said, Miller had to rotate the gun's cylinder so a round was in firing position. He then had to pull the hammer back before firing each shot.Alagaban asked how Miller was able to line up the cylinder while Robinson charged.“It's not very hard to look down real quick and then look up,” Miller said.Alagaban: “But you had to rotate the cylinder to the firing position?”Miller: “He was coming at the car with a gun. What other choice did I have?”Prosecutors have suggested other options. Tell the driver to floor it and get out of there. Fire a warning shot into the air. Get out of the car and run.However, Miller said, he didn't have time.“I thought he was going to kill us,” Miller said.Miller's attorney, Greg Abboud, asked: “Did you think you had time to get out of there?”“No,” Miller said. “He was running at the car with a gun. He could have killed us.”

Lil Wayne is finally starting his sentence!

Lil Wayne is finally starting his sentence! It’s been postponed twice now—once because the rapper needed extensive dental work done, and another because of a fire in the courthouse.
But it couldn’t get pushed back any longer, and Lil Wayne officially turned himself into authorities today to begin his yearlong prison sentence. According to MTV, a riot almost broke out as Weezy entered into the Manhattan Criminal Court Building. Photographers tried desperately to get one final shot of the rapper before he left. Shortly after, he was handcuffed and taken away. Lil Wayne will serve his sentence in city jails, not a state prison. He could be released in about eight months with good behavior. He plans on working while behind bars. He told Rolling Stone recently, "I'll be still rapping in there, have a ga

Club Syn Gang fight breaks out inside of a Colorado Springs nightclub notorious for violence

Gang fight breaks out inside of a Colorado Springs nightclub notorious for violence. What led to the brawl is unclear, and no one had been arrested or charged as of Sunday afternoon.The fight started around closing time early Sunday morning at club Syn nightclub, formally known as 13 Pure. Police say 75 to 100 people were involved in the fight that left 6 of club Syn employees hurt. Witnesses say there was one large fight in the main room of the club and several smaller fights throughout.More than 22 police units were called out to the scene. They used pepper spray to disperse a majority of the crowd. Police found one man lying on the floor of the club with multiple cuts to his upper torso. They believe that victim was cut by a broken beer bottle. He was transported to Penrose Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.Six nightclub staff members were treated for minor injures and two more staff members voluntarily went to the hospital for evaluation.

Club Syn is currently facing other trouble with the liquor board. Their liquor license is being reviewed after Police say they served alcohol to three people underage.

Slain Daniel Kevin Carroll planned to hit the Lyons crime gang in their pockets by setting up a rival MOT station.

The 29-year-old gangster secured land near David Lyons' Applerow garage in Lambhill, Glasgow, and recruited a frontman.Police were aware of Carroll's plan before he was shot dead at Asda in Robroyston, near Glasgow, in January.A source said: "It was a case of putting two fingers up at the Lyons and forcing them out."There was an incident on the land shortly before Carroll's death and that's when police realised what was going on."Just days ago, UK transport minister Lord Adonis defied the police by refusing to shut Lyons' business.The yard was the scene of a triple shooting that killed Lyons' nephew Michael, 21.Police supplied the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency with an eight-page intelligence dossier on Lyons.Glasgow MSP Bob Doris and councillor Billy McAllister also urged Adonis to act - but despite fears over public safety, he has refused to close the yard. A letter written by his junior minister, Paul Clark MP, said officials had secretly scrapped the vetting of garage operators wanting to run MOT stations.Since November, it has not been necessary for prospective examiners to provide "character or financial references".Clark added: "Such references are easily falsified." SNP member Doris is to raise the issue at a crime summit tomorrow at Glasgow City Chambers.Strathclyde Police's drive to share intelligence on criminals with other public bodies to stop them winning contracts has come unstuck in recent months.NHS chiefs in Glasgow handed a s2million-a-year contract to Network Private Hire despite police saying the firm was linked to organised crime. The firm denied the claims.And the Security Industry Authority has been forced to return licences to crooks.Strathclyde Police said last night: "This matter is far from concluded."

Tran reported to border service officials to face deportation Tuesday.

 Canada based on being involved in organized crime -- a member of one of two groups, FOB and FK -- which "have shocked the city of Calgary with their violent rivalry."

"Mr. Tran admits to socializing and maintaining friends with known gang members, has been identified by police as a member ... convicted of trafficking in a dial-a-dope context ... been targeted and shot at in an event ... arising out of long-running rivalry between FK and FOB ... and been identified by the rival gang as a member," Tessler wrote in his ruling.

Raj Sharma, his latest immigration lawyer and one of several to argue for Tran over the years, said Tuesday Tran has been fighting against more than a criminal record.

"He was fighting the Jackie Tran myth created by a media myth," Sharma said.

"There is a limited criminal record and a dated criminal record."

Sharma has said he intends to keep a date in April at Federal Court to argue there are grounds to revisit the second order.

There is "remote possibility" his client might one day return to Canada .

Tran, who arrived here in 1993, was raised by a single mother, and has a younger sister in Canada and a longtime girlfriend.

Tran was first ordered deported in 2004 after convictions for an assault and drug trafficking.

He failed on an appeal of that order and lost a recent bid to see the Federal Court find errors in the appeal and allow it to be heard again.

He has said at hearings over the years that he has learned from his brushes with the law and hoped for a chance to prove he is a law-abiding citizen wanting to work to support his mother, who is disabled and cannot work, and younger sister.

Sharma has said it is unfair his client is deemed a public risk given he might be targeted -- therefore a victim -- in violent gang rivalry

Pushing his belongings on a baggage cart as police officers looked on nearby, Tran seemed resigned to his fate when asked by reporters if he would comment on the latest -- perhaps final development -- in the drawn-out saga.

"What's done is done," he said softly while pushing past reporters to a Canada Immigration office at the airport.

The 27-year-old gang member is being deported to Vietnam, the end of the road for now in Tran's bid to stay in Canada.

After winning numerous legal battles to fight deportation, a ruling earlier this year opened the door for Canada Border Services officials to at last kick him out of the country.