cyber-banging. Gangs now use social networking sites to recruit, communicate, and post threats.

cyber-banging. Gangs now use social networking sites to recruit, communicate, and post threats.For Salinas officials, the trend brought to mind how terrorist organizations developed and triggered the idea of bringing in terrorism experts from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue was fascinated with how the military methodically figured where Sadam Hussein was by using statistical analysis. He wondered if the same approach in terms of predictability could be used on gangs.Salinas police Commander Kelly McMillan agrees and said a lot of insurgent groups the military deals with in Iraq and Afghanistan are very much structured like a street gang in Salinas.

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Shamiela Thomas wife of alleged 28s gangster and murder suspect George "Geweld" Thomas is to appear in court

wife of alleged 28s gangster and murder suspect George "Geweld" Thomas is to appear in court on charges relating to the illegal possession of drugs.The charges relate to drugs allegedly found by police of the specialised organised crime unit when they arrested Shamiela Thomas, 25, at her home on Thursday after the court issued a warrant for her on charges of corruption and defeating the ends of justice.She appeared in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate's Court on Friday and is expected to apply for bail on Thursday.Details of the allegations of defeating the ends of justice and corruption could not be established.George Thomas is in custody on charges of murder and illegal possession of a firearm. The charges relate to the murder of Mogammat Nur Salie and his girlfriend, Blanche van der Westhuizen, both of Bishop Lavis.
Thomas and two other men are accused of going to Observatory on August 7, 2004, to steal a car. They are alleged to have approached Van der Westhuizen, 24, a bank clerk, and Salie, 25, a paramedic, as they were sitting in a car. Salie's body was found in bush beside Rotterdam Road in Mfuleni a few days later. Salie had been shot in the head.Van der Westhuizen was found buried in a shallow grave in bush beside the R300 near Kuils River, three weeks after she had been reported missing.
It appeared that Salie had been killed first, and that Van der Westhuizen had been driven to another spot and raped before being murdered.Thomas, who has 22 convictions, was denied bail last year after he was accused of pointing an unlicensed firearm out of the window of a car during a police chase while he was on bail for double murder and attempted murder charges.The court found that if he were released on bail, he would endanger the safety of the public and was likely to intimidate State witnesses.

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Glasgow's notorious Daniel, Lyons and McGovern crime clans are expected to be at the top of the crime league.

Glasgow's notorious Daniel, Lyons and McGovern crime clans are expected to be at the top of the crime league.Senior officers hope that the list, along with the new tough sentences announced by the Scottish Government for professionals who handle gangsters' assets, will give them more tools than ever before to bring down the lords of the underworld.The head of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, Deputy Chief Constable Gordon Meldrum, is behind the list. He said: "We've never had the A to Z, the Who's Who of organised crime."This will be like the FBI list to a certain extent. It focuses on the criminals who pose the greatest risk."The ranking should be based on threat, risk and harm to communities."If we have a better understanding of how organised crime actually works, we'll be better placed to decide which group should be next for our attention."The new approach is inspired by a Harvard University study in the 70s which helped the FBI take on the five big Mafia families in New York.The Harvard experts told the Feds to stop targeting individual gangsters and go after their networks instead. And Mr Meldrum reckons a similar idea could work in Scotland.He believes the most wanted list could give his agency a whole new focus. Rather than measuring their success by the amount of drugs and cash they seize, they could focus on "dismantling and bankrupting" the worst gangs in the league table.

Likely targets include the Daniel clan, led by 50-year-old Jamie Daniel, who are involved in every racket from drug-dealing to protection.The Daniels' bitter rivals, the Lyons crime family, could also feature highly.And the drug-dealing McGovern gang could also be among the notorious crooks in the cops' sights.

The list is also likely to feature the south-east Asian gangs behind the rise in the number of cannabis factories in Scotland, and the thugs from eastern Europe who smuggle women into the country for the vice trade.All eight police forces in Scotland are involved in preparing the list, along with experts from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research.Mr Meldrum revealed his plan as Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill was announcing new offences of directing, involvement in or failing to report serious organised crime.The offences will carry a maximum jail term of 14 years, and enable the authorities to crack down harder on the "legitimate" businessmen and professionals who help the crooks.

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Taliban street gang ,500 agents from the FBI and other agencies raided homes in East Palo Alto, San Jose and arrested 42 suspected members

500 agents from the FBI and other agencies raided homes in East Palo Alto, San Jose and elsewhere and arrested 42 suspected members of a street gang known as the Taliban.Culminating an 18-month investigation, the 7 a.m. raid targeted the East Palo Alto- and Menlo Park-based gang that the FBI contends has been responsible for killings, robberies, drug trafficking and illegal weapons possession. The men and women arrested range in age from 19 to 47."The East Palo Alto community is fed up with gangs and its associated crime and violence. This joint operation represents a pinnacle moment in the fight against gangs," East Palo Alto Police Chief Ronald L. Davis said in a prepared statement.FBI SWAT teams from four cities, along with local and state officers, executed 29 search warrants. Besides the gang's base in southern San Mateo County, raids were in San Jose, Sunnyvale, Redwood City, Gilroy, Stockton, San Francisco and others."This operation was the largest collaborative effort in the Bay Area in 30 years," Menlo Park Police Chief Bruce Goitia said in a news release. He labeled those arrested as "high-level targets.''According to the FBI, the Taliban gang formed in 2002, from two other gangs known as the Midtown Hogs and the G-Town gang, in response to a war against the now-defunct Sac Street gang. Its growth became the focus of a multiagency investigation by East Palo Alto police, Menlo Park police and the FBI.The gang selected its name for "shock value," the FBI said. It is not affiliated with any Middle Eastern or Muslim entities. The FBI reported the seizure in the raids of 14 handguns, two large-caliber assault rifles and varying quantities of Ecstasy, cocaine base, codeine and narcotics-manufacturing evidence. Authorities also seized 10 autos and $240,000 in cash.Depending on the type of search warrant law enforcement had for each house, the raids ranged from a "knock-and-talk" to a full-blown SWAT team entry with flash-bang grenades and other distraction devices, according to East Palo Alto detective Ed Soares. At a house raided on the 1400 block of Camellia Drive in East Palo Alto, neighbors noted teams of agents, with "FBI" in large letters across the backs of their bullet-resistant vests, walking in and out the front door. Those neighbors also said they had been awakened by a loud, early-morning bang and then watched from their lawns as a man and a woman were brought out in handcuffs. An FBI agent carried out a small child covered in a blanket. While those living close by said they knew of the Taliban gang, none of them was aware of what was going on at the house or why it was being raided.Gang members "were quite successful in terrorizing the city," Soares said at a news conference, pointing to a chart mapping out homicides, robberies and other crimes connected to the gang. The map showed the heaviest concentration of crime in sections of East Palo Alto and Menlo Park between Willow Road and University Avenue.
"Today, we have taken a major step toward clearing the way for members of these communities to make their own path without the constant fear of gang violence,'' said FBI Special Agent in Charge Charlene B. Thornton.But other law enforcement officials said that dismantling one gang often creates a power vacuum that others attempt to fill. "Today we should celebrate," Davis said, "but tomorrow is a new day and there will be a new gang. "... We will continue our fight and dismantle these gangs one by one until our community can enjoy the safety it deserves

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Louis Pasquin is believed to be the first lawyer in Canada to be convicted of gangsterism.

Louis Pasquin is believed to be the first lawyer in Canada to be convicted of gangsterism.Pasquin looked shocked as he heard the verdict, which was delivered by Quebec court Judge Carol St-Cyr after nine months of deliberation.Pasquin, 49, has been a lawyer for more than 20 years and has also represented members of the Montreal Mafia.St-Cyr said Pasquin's explanations during testimony didn't hold water.
"Your testimony did not withstand analysis, is unlikely and not credible," the judge said.St-Cyr said he didn't believe Pasquin when he said he was unaware of the activities of two other men arrested in the case."The caution he used in his conversations and the cryptic language show that contrary to his assertions he knew perfectly well about their activities," St-Cyr said.Evidence at Pasquin's trial suggested he acted as a liaison between a drug ring leader and a pilot who allegedly made cocaine runs.

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Vivian Blake, ex-leader of one of the most dangerous gangs ever to hit the United States, the Shower Posse

Vivian Blake, ex-leader of one of the most dangerous gangs ever to hit the United States, the Shower Posse, (recently featured prominently in the American Gangster series on American television) said something startling.Asked if he had his life to live over again whether he would do anything different, he said, without hesitation, "No". Get a copy of that American cable show or the book written by Blake's own son to see the atrocities of which the Shower Posse was accused. Blake was insistent and stressed: "After I lost my job, I had to live. I had to live. I had my children to look after and my grandmother. I used to see her fridge empty. I had to live", by any means necessary. That is why he could say openly that he had no regrets - for anything is justifiable to live. The hosts must have been too stunned, too polite (or too afraid?) to challenge him on that reprehensible statement.
But Vivian Blake's views represent those of many Jamaicans who were never gangsters. There are many "decent", everyday Jamaicans who believe that humans should do anything to survive (except to engage in homosexuality, of course). That's the only exception they seem to have; the only thing worth dying over! In these harsh economic times, to say that you are "standing up for principle" or "morality" (who can eat that?) and that you are not engaging in "the runnings" to "eat a food" is to laughed at or seen as a fool. How you fight corruption in a culture like this?
You don't have a society with a set of values which says these values are worth suffering deprivation for and even dying over. Our forefathers believed that the lives of their children and their children's freedom meant more than their own lives. They sacrificed their lives for us. We lionise people who threatened their lives to win our freedom and who stood up against oppression, but that's only in another narrative. In the real world we believe that is rubbish, that "man haffi survive", by any means necessary.There have been all sorts of people - communists, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, black power nationalists, anti-colonialists - who have put liberation, the ending of oppression, the fighting for an ideal, for justice, for human rights, above their own personal welfare and personal advancement. If you have a society where the greatest value is money, we cannot fight corruption.
People in positions of power and responsibility in the public service will bow to the politicians who ask them to bend the rules and to facilitate their whims and fancies because they would rather keep their cushy jobs rather than fight any corrupt encroachments.This is why this country does not begin to realise the value it has in Greg Christie. We will never begin to understand what a treasure Greg Christie is and we can never pay him enough for his uncommon courage, fearlessness, inflexible commitment to integrity and even his feisty temperament. Sure, he is sometimes unnecessarily contentious, obtrusive and sometimes will overstep his bounds. But I much prefer him to err on that side than to quiver before government ministers or even to the prime minister. We need independent people in the public sector who can stand up to prime ministers, ministers of government and any Mr Big Man from any big-name family. People who would rather lose their well-paying jobs than compromise an ounce of integrity.Unless you have people with this kind of character - this kind of commitment to a set of moral and philosophical principles - all your institutional reforms and enforcement procedures will be woefully inadequate. Necessary, but not sufficient. You need moral capital.We desperately need more anti-corruption champions like Greg Christie. And more people to follow his example.

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Trey-57, a subset of the Crips"Cripnics."The gatherings "were like barbecues,"

"Cripnics."The gatherings "were like barbecues," Little testified Friday.Little, 27, was the latest member or former member of the Crips to take the witness stand in federal court and face six men charged with running organized crime through the gang.
Testimony by Little and others who have pleaded guilty and agreed to testify have revealed information about how street gangs such as the Crips operate in Wichita.
The defendants are charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, a law meant to curb organized crime. Defense lawyers have said their clients weren't organized and were acting individually.Little said the cookouts were examples of organized functions."All the Crips in Wichita would get together and jump people in and do stuff," said Little, who pleaded guilty in a separate RICO case."Jumping in" is a term the gang used to describe an initiation ceremony where people join by being beaten by members.Little testified that instead of being "jumped in," he was "blessed in" by a relative vouching for him.Little said he joined the Trey-57, a subset of the Crips, when he was 14 years old. By age 21, he was the oldest member of his Crips sect "still out on the streets."On cross-examination, Little testified that some members joined the Crips from a bicycle club called the Low Riders.Paul McCausland, lawyer for defendant Jermal Campbell, said that's how his client started hanging around gang members at age 12.Campbell and Little are the same age and used to sell drugs together, Little testified."We used to sell drugs when we were young all the time at my house on Piatt," Little said. "He practically lived at my house."But the two had a falling out a few years later, Little said, when Campbell stole a video game system from him.Little, identified in court records by the alias Clown, told the jury he still considers himself a Crip because he wasn't "jumped out."That's a similar ceremony, in which a person is beaten again. It's required to leave the gang, Little said.He said the gang's cookouts would include 15 to 25 people at a time, usually at McAdams or Grove parks in Wichita.The gatherings ended in late 2005 or early 2006, Little said. The next year, federal prosecutors indicted 28 men under the RICO Act.At the racketeering trial this week, Crips and former members have provided details about gang colors, weapons, drug sales and robberies performed to enhance their groups' reputations.Dontae Davis, in his second day of testimony Thursday, told jurors that different sects of Crips wore different shades of blue to distinguish themselves.The 357s wore royal blue, Davis said. Other subsets of Neighborhood Crips -- such as the Deuce Treys, 19th Street Crips and 17th Street Crips -- wore baby blue.Prosecutors, who continue their case next week, say the colors of clothes worn by the defendants during various crimes they committed show they worked for the Crips.

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Mafia Cops Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa

Former NYPD detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa were sentenced Friday in Brooklyn federal court after telling the judge they are innocent.But the son of one of their victims told the former cops:

"May you have a long life in prison."

Prosecutors said Eppolito and Caracappa moonlighted as hitmen for the Luchese crime family while on the force during the 1980s."Mafia Cops" Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa, convicted in April 2006 of committing eight murders while on the payroll of a mob underboss, received life sentences Friday in Brooklyn federal court.Eppolito, the son of a mobster, was sentenced to life plus 100 years. Partner Caracappa received life plus 80 years. Each was fined more than $4 million.
Although the pair remained jailed in the years since they were convicted of betraying their badges, their case was tied up in appeals that delayed their sentencing.Caracappa, 67, and Eppolito, 60, committed the killings between 1986-90. The elder detective stood to declare he had nothing to do with the slayings.
"I am innocent of these charges," Caracappa insisted. Eppolito, speaking before his sentencing, made the same claim."I'm a big boy, I'm not a child," he said. "The federal government can my life. But they can't take my soul, they can't take my
dignity. I never hurt anybody. ... I never did any of this."Federal Judge Jack Weinstein - who overturned their convictions on a technicality, but was reversed by an appeals court - handed down the lengthy terms.Weinstein, after their convictions, said the pair had committed "the most heinous series of crimes ever tried in this courthouse."He threw out their convictions in June 2006, citing the statute of limitations in the racketeering case. Prosecutors appealed, and the convictions were restored last September.The crooked pair earned as much as $65,000 for one of their hits on behalf of brutal mob boss Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso. The jailed Mafiosi, suspected of 36 murders, paid the rogue cops a $4,000-a-month retainer while they worked for him. The defendants committed the killings while simultaneously on the payrolls of the NYPD and the Luchese crime family.Caracappa, who retired in 1992 after 23 years with the NYPD, helped establish the department's clearing house for Mafia murder
probes.Eppolito grew up in a mob family: His father, grandfather and an uncle were members of the Gambino family. The dichotomy between his career and his upbringing was covered in his autobiography, "Mafia Cop: The Story of An Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob."Eppolito, who retired in 1990, had a bit part in the classic mob movie "Goodfellas" - and later fancied himself a Hollywood script writer.

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Former president of the Hells Angels has been jailed for eight and a half years for child sex and drugs offences.

Former president of the Hells Angels has been jailed for eight and a half years for child sex and drugs offences. The 43-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will serve a minimum of six and a half years behind bars before being eligible for parole. The former bikie pleaded guilty to 18 charges of supplying minors with drugs including cannabis and amphetamines. He was found guilty by a County Court jury in November on one count of committing an indecent act with a child under 16 and one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
But he was acquitted of sex charges against six other girls under 18. Judge Meryl Sexton said that after separating from his partner in 2006, the man was living in a house on his own with a high level of security, including closed circuit television.
She said it was a place where vulnerable teenagers came to take drugs and to party.
"These were troubled young women and the heavy consumption of drugs supplied by you in a constant stream could not have helped their situation," Judge Sexton said in sentencing the man.

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The West Clyde Boys and Vliet Street Gangster Disciples, were arrested and charged with drug offenses Wednesday

The West Clyde Boys and Vliet Street Gangster Disciples, were arrested and charged with drug offenses Wednesday, in a sweep which also took twelve guns and a kilo of cocaine off the streets. "If there is somebody out there in this community that wants to pick up or use a gun, that wants to peddle drugs on the street, that wants to join a gain or commit the kind of violence that was associated with this organization, they are going to be at the top of our priority list," Jacobs said during a press conference today. The two gangs, said Milwaukee police chief Edward Flynn, were also involved in robberies, shootings, money laundering, drug dealing and prostitution, as they wrecked havoc on the city's west side. "They poison their neighborhoods," said Flynn. "Even more important than the amount of drugs seized, guns seized or drug dealers arrested, is the fact that a significant organized crime enterprise has been taken down."Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Blackwood said Antonio Williams is among those named in criminal indictments "You may know of his name from an incident in July of last year, where six indivuals were shot," said Blackwood. Four of the shooting victims died.

The take down and arrests were the result of a nine month investigation by numerous law enforecemt agencies.

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Mary Ann Gianelli pleaded guilty on Wednesday in federal court, and in exchange, prosecutors dropped 141 money laundering counts

Mary Ann Gianelli, the wife of Arthur Gianelli, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in federal court, and in exchange, prosecutors dropped 141 money laundering counts. pleaded guilty to racketeering, money laundering, and other charges just before her trial was scheduled to start.Prosecutors say the 52-year-old woman helped her husband run an illegal gambling business after he was indicted on federal racketeering charges in 2005 by picking up shoeboxes full of cash in Boston's North End.Mary Ann Gianelli, 52, a nurse and mother of two, posted the family's sprawling Lynnfield home as collateral to get Arthur Gianelli released on bail. And when he was stuck at home under house arrest while awaiting trial, she admittedly drove to Boston's North End in her silver Mercedes to pick up a shoe box stuffed with his $10,000 a month cut from the gambling operation.Yesterday, the cost of Mary Ann Gianelli's devotion to her husband of 28 years was apparent, as she pleaded guilty to 19 counts of racketeering, money laundering, filing false tax returns, and illegally structuring cash transactions, just as she was about to stand trial alongside him.Prosecutors said they will recommend she serve 18 months in prison, and a defense lawyer said he will ask for a term of probation.US District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton told Gianelli, a slender woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, that she will be allowed to remain in her $1 million home until she is sentenced June 5.Afterward, he said the Main Street property will be forfeited to the government because the court found Arthur Gianelli violated his bail conditions by continuing to run his gambling business while briefly free on bail in 2005. His bail was revoked, and he is currently jailed pending the outcome of the case."Mary Ann Gianelli played a minuscule role in the grand scheme of this case," said her lawyer, E. Peter Parker of Boston. "Her crimes consist solely of handling money in the wrong way. Her criminal conduct is out of character with the way she has lived her life."
Gianelli's plea came as jury selection was underway in federal court in the case against her and four others. Opening statements are slated to begin this morning as the case moves forward against Arthur Gianelli, 51; Dennis Albertelli, 56, and his wife, Gisele, 54, of Stow; and Frank Iacoboni, 65, of Leominster. A dozen other codefendants previously pleaded guilty.Gianelli is accused of running a bookmaking operation and illegal video poker machine business that allegedly paid $2,000 a week to reputed Mafia underboss Carmen "The Cheeseman" DiNunzio.

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Six men face federal charges, accused of belonging to the Crips street gang

Six men face federal charges, accused of belonging to the Crips street gang in Wichita between 1991 and 2007.U.S. District Court, Wichita, with Judge J. Thomas Marten presiding.Deb Barnett, assistant U.S. attorney | Chris Oakley, assistant U.S. attorney
Defendants

Jermal Campbell (also known as "L"): Age: 27 | Attorney: Paul McCausland | Charges: Two counts racketeering; engaging in racketeering activity: murder; felon in possession of ammunition

Jonearl Smith (also known as "Smeral"): Age: 30 | Attorney: Mark Bennett Jr. | Charges: Two counts racketeering; two counts conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance

Lonnie Wade (also known as "LaLo"): Age: 29 | Attorney: Craig Shultz | Charges: Two counts racketeering; two counts maintaining a place for the purpose of manufacturing and distributing a controlled substance; three counts conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance

Corey Cornelius (also known as "CC"): Age: 30 | Attorney: Carl Fredrick Maughan | Charges: racketeering conspiracy; two counts conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance

Darryn Frierson (also known as "DeDa"): Age: 38 | Attorney: Michael Jackson | Charges: two counts racketeering; three counts possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance; maintaining a place for the purpose of manufacturing controlled substances; conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance; three counts possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance

Calvin Williams (also known as "Nut Case"): Age: 29 | Attorney: Eric Hartenstein | Charges: racketeering conspiracy; threats against a witness; two counts conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance

defense attorney representing one of six men charged with running organized crime through a street gang asked a federal judge this morning to tell the jury that none of the evidence supports the charges."All they're trying to show is that he's a bad guy," said Craig Shultz, who represents Lonnie Wade.Shultz said the testimony so far has failed to support charges of rackeetering via the Crips street gang.U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten said such an instruction was improper at this point. He said prosecutors were trying to establish certain criminal acts before they got to the heart of their case.Federal prosecutors have spent the week building a time line of crime from 1991 to 2007, when the charges were filed. Testimony continues today before Marten.Prosecutors have had to work around reluctant witnesses, who fear retribution by the Crips -- the gang the men are accused of belonging to -- even in retelling crimes they witnessed more than a decade ago.The Eagle is filing live updates from the courtroom, a first for Wichita federal court. Follow the updates in the box at right by refreshing the page.

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James “Pancake” Taylor was picked up by police trying to stop a violent drugs war that has broken out on the Costa del Sol.

James “Pancake” Taylor was picked up by police trying to stop a violent drugs war that has broken out on the Costa del Sol. Liverpool gangster was today behind bars in Spain after being arrested for attempted murder.James “Pancake” Taylor was picked up by police trying to stop a violent drugs war that has broken out on the Costa del Sol.The 29-year-old is also being investigated over claims he is the ringleader of a gang which has brought terror to the sunshine streets.A leaked report to a Spanish judge over a spate of shootings says the gang is a “worldwide organisation that is dedicated mainly to drug trafficking, targeted assassinations and has a hierarchical structure among the members, almost all of whom originate in Liverpool and Manchester”.Taylor was arrested over the shooting of a Brit after a nightclub brawl last August.

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John Gizzi, walks free

John Gizzi, 36, from St Asaph, Denbighshire was jailed for five-and-a-half years in 2006. His trial heard he was a "thug" and "bully" who assaulted homeless people and preyed on the weak and vulnerable in the Rhyl area. He was freed after a judge at Mold Crown Court heard he had repaid £1m under the Proceeds of Crime Act. An original order made under the Act found Gizzi had benefited to the tune of £6.89m from his crimes. He was ordered to repay £2.6m, but that figure was based on a valuation of his assets before the recession. They included a mansion which had been originally valued at £1.7m but eventually sold for £850,000. Gizzi had been due for release in December 2008, but he was ordered to serve another seven years because he had failed to repay the original £2.6m. However, on Thursday Judge John Rogers QC reduced the order after the court - which was surrounded by tight police security - was told all his assets had been sold off. As well as the mansion, 20 other mortgage properties were sold, and a Rolex watch. Four number plates - JDG 1 to 4 - had also been sold along with a fleet of luxury cars including a Bentley Continental, Range Rover and a Mercedes. Judge Rogers discharged the confiscation order and Gizzi was formally released. Gizzi's mansion sold for half its original value of £1.7m
An application by prosecutor Simon Mills that Gizzi should be responsible for the costs of the CPS and the receiver appointed to sell the property was rejected. The judge said those costs should come out of the reduced order. However, the court heard that the regional asset recovery team could pursue Gizzi for more money if they thought he could afford it in the future. Judge Rogers told Gizzi: "As the crown point out, the actual benefit figure is a very much higher figure. "It may well be that the crown will seek, if circumstances permit, to obtain further monies. That is a matter which must await events." The judge said the fall in the property market was to blame for the lower-than-expected sum repaid, and not Gizzi. It was previously found that Gizzi had made "tainted gifts" to his parents' building firm in the form of a building plot in Towyn, and a property in Rhyl. The plot, which now has four houses on it, is due to be sold this week to his parents for £430,000. Gizzi had previously admitted two charges of causing grievous bodily harm, one of assault causing actual bodily harm and one of conspiracy to supply counterfeit cigarettes. He also asked for 22 offences of mortgage fraud - involving almost £1.5m - to be taken into consideration.

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Adrion “Baby Banks” Strickland member of the Black Gangsta Disciples street gang

Adrion “Baby Banks” Strickland, 35. He was one of South Mississippi’s most wanted,
Marshals credit a tip in Strickland’s arrest.Strickland had been arrested and convicted of possessing cocaine with intent to sell it. But minutes before he was to be sentenced at a federal courthouse in Hattiesburg in 2007, he told his attorney he was going to talk to his girlfriend and left the building. He had been on the run ever since, until Tuesday, when marshals from the Oxford office of the Fugitive Task Force caught him in Starkville. Strickland was listed among the most wanted by Jackson County’s FBI Safe Streets Task Force. Investigators believe he is a member of the Black Gangsta Disciples street gang and has lived in Mclain and Greene County.
Justin Vickers, supervisor of the Gulfport office of the Fugutive Task Force, said Strickland has been wanted on a federal warrant for failure to appear in court since he fled the federal courthouse in Hattiesburg.The U.S. Marshal’s Office in Hattiesburg learned recently that Strickland was in Starkville and asked for assistance from the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force office in Oxford.Marshals with the Oxford office also determined that Strickland was using the alias of Nicholas Strickland.“They conducted surveillance on an address in Starkville and observed Strickland in a vehicle,” Vickers said. “They followed him to the Oktibbeha County Hospital and arrested him as he exited the vehicle.”
Vickers said Strickland was arrested without incident.

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Barzan Tilli-Choli of Vancouver is charged with two counts of attempted murder.

Barzan Tilli-Choli of Vancouver is charged with two counts of attempted murder.The RCMP and Vancouver police have arrested two men they allege are major players in a notorious Vancouver-area gang blamed for the rash of violence that has plagued B.C. this year.After a lengthy investigation, two members of the United Nations gang, one associate member and two women, were arrested on the weekend and charged with various weapons and murder offences, said police."This is a major strike against the UN gang," said Gary Bass, RCMP deputy commissioner, at a news conference in Vancouver on Tuesday.The alleged gangsters were arrested after a targeted shooting in Surrey, B.C., on Feb. 16.During that attack, a Range Rover stopped at an intersection, when an SUV approached and shots rang out, striking the male driver in the left shoulder.
Police said the 26-year-old man is one of the biggest threats to public safety in the Lower Mainland."We caught the bad guy," Vancouver police Chief Jim Chu said Tuesday."This is a major blow, to the gangs generally, and to the UN gang, specifically."Also charged with attempted murder are Aram Ali, 23, of Vancouver, and Nicola Cottrell, 26, of New Westminster, B.C.Ali is a known associate of the UN gang and Cottrell is linked to Tilli-Choli, police said.Charged with one count of occupying a vehicle knowing there was a firearm in the vehicle is Sarah Jane Trebble, 28, of West Vancouver.Trebble is also associated with Tilli-Choli.Karwan Saed, 32, of Burnaby, B.C., is also charged with being an accessory after the fact to attempted murder. He was described by police Tuesday as a UN gang member.The arrests are the first in what police promise will be a series of gang busts in the next few weeks.
There have been 22 targeted shootings in the Lower Mainland since Jan. 20.Though no one was killed in the Feb. 16 incident, police called it a "significant shooting," and a targeted attack on an associate of the Bacon brothers, notorious B.C. gangsters who are associated with the rival Red Scorpions gang.Less than 12 hours later, a few kilometres away, Nikki Alemy, 23, was shot dead in her Cadillac while her four-year-old son was in the back seat. Alemy's husband has links to the UN gang.Surrey RCMP investigators said the Feb. 16 shooting was part of a larger wave of gang violence across the region, as two violent mid-level groups, the UN gang and the Red Scorpions, fight for territory."The level of violence of these people is astounding," said Insp. Mike Porteous, team leader for the Vancouver police investigation into gang activity.He said police prevented at least 20 other planned attacks through their investigations, which include figuring out who's likely to be the next target of gang violence, then working to thwart it.Supt. Dan Malo, officer in charge of the Integrated Gang Task Force, said Tilli-Choli's arrest will have a significant effect on the UN gang. Tilli-Choli took over the leadership role with the organization after former leader Clay Roueche was arrested in the U.S. for drug smuggling. Roueche is in jail in Seattle awaiting his trial date.
Tilli-Choli, Ali and Cottrell will remain in jail awaiting their bail hearing scheduled for March 10.

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Eleven of 13 suspected Bloods gang members held without bond.

Those ordered held without bond were: Jason Campbell, Jawaad Nash, Tavarus Sturdivant, James Lamar Vaughn, Marco Wigfall, Robert Springs, Joey Williams, Daryl Gibbs, Sanchez Hudson, Malik Billings and Garwin Harris.U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler on Tuesday ordered the 11 defendants held without bond.Eleven of 13 suspected Bloods gang members and associates arrested last week on a string of drug, firearms and robbery charges won't likely get out of jail while awaiting trial.Many of the suspected Bloods gang members and associates have long arrest records and multiple convictions. Nine have spent time in state prisons.
The defendants are accused of conspiring to sell cocaine, heroin and marijuana. They conducted the bulk of their drug trafficking and other criminal activity in an area along Beatties Ford Road between Capps Hill Mine Road and Brookshire Boulevard, according to the indictment.Federal authorities said another alleged source of the gang's income came from robberies of other drug dealers.Keesler set a $50,000 unsecured bond for Felicia Baucum. The magistrate ordered that she be placed on home detention with electronic monitoring and that she have no contact with gang members or associates.

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Mary Ann Gianelli pleaded guilty to 19 counts of racketeering, money laundering, filing false tax returns, and illegal structuring of cash transaction

Mary Ann Gianelli, a 52-year-old nurse from Lynnfield and the sister-in-law of convicted former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., admitted that she helped her husband run his illegal gambling business after he was indicted on federal racketeering charges in 2005 and placed under house arrest.
Assistant US Attorney Michael Tabak told the judge that Arthur Gianelli used to personally collect cash from various locations where his bookmaking and video poker businesses operate, but hired another man to do it after his arrest. When that man was called to a federal grand jury in 2006, he revealed that he collected more than $10,000 a month for Gianelli, according to Tabak.The man told the grand jury he stuffed the cash in a shoebox then drove to a North End garage at lunchtime on the 16th of each month and left the box inside an unattended silver Mercedes parked in a pre-determined spot.Tabak said investigators conducted surveillance at the garage on the 16th of one month and "in came a silver Mercedes and Mrs. Gianelli was driving it."The prosecutor said that if Mary Ann Gianelli had gone to trial the government would have proved she collected illegal proceeds from her husband's business, filed IRS returns in 2002 and 2003 falsely claiming that she drew legitimate income from a trucking company, and was involved in other wrongdoing.Mary Ann Gianelli pleaded guilty to 19 counts of racketeering, money laundering, filing false tax returns, and illegal structuring of cash transactions. Under a plea agreement, the government dropped an additional 141 money laundering counts against her. US District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton allowed her to remain free on bail and set sentencing for June 5. Prosecutors said they would recommend an 18-month jail term. Her lawyer said he would recommend probation with a period of house arrest."Mary Ann Gianelli played a minuscule role in the grand scheme of this case," said Boston attorney E. Peter Parker. "Her crimes consist solely of handling money in the wrong way. Her criminal conduct is out of character with the way she has lived her life."
He said she and her husband were high school sweathearts who have been married for 28 years and have two children.Mary Ann Gianelli's sister, Elizabeth, is married to Connolly. Connolly is the once-decorated former FBI agent who was convicted of federal racketeering charges for protecting long-time informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi from prosecution. He was also convicted of murder in Florida in November for plotting with the two gangsters to orchestrate the 1982 slaying of a Boston businessman.The Connolly and Gianelli families have had homes next to each other in Lynnfield for many years. Jury selection is continuing today in the trial of her husband; Dennis Albertelli, 56, and his wife, Gisele, 54, of Stow; and Frank Iacoboni, 65, of Leominster. A dozen codefendants previously pleaded guilty. Opening statements in the trial are expected Thursday.

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Omari Allen is a suspected member of "200 block Young Hawgz," arraigned on counts of attempted murder

Omari Allen was arraigned on counts of attempted murder, assault on a peace officer and shooting at an occupied vehicle, with firearm and gang-related allegations that carry extra penalties, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Mitchell. Allen returns to court Wednesday to enter a plea. His bail is set at $5 million. The shooting occurred on the night of Feb. 20 in Marin City, when a sheriff's deputy was sitting in his car in the 100 block of Drake Avenue. Sheriff's officials said a single round was fired at the car from a handgun and became lodged in a pillar on the driver's side of the car. The deputy was not injured. Allen was identified as a suspect through a single tip that came via the Crime Stoppers phone line for anonymous tips, sheriff's Sgt. Debra Barry said Tuesday. Investigators arrested Allen early Saturday morning during a raid at his apartment in the public housing complex. A gun was recovered during the arrest, and investigators are testing it to see if it can be linked to the shot on the deputy's car. The sheriff's department is also investigating whether Allen can be connected to a series of some 30 robberies in Marin City over the past year, many involving guns and targeting bus commuters near the transit center. The sheriff's office said Allen is a suspected member of
the "200 block Young Hawgz," a reputed criminal street gang in the public housing area along Drake Avenue. In December, two other alleged Hawgz pleaded guilty to a gang-related assault on a family visiting Marin City's annual Labor Day festival.
In a report last year, the Marin County Civil Grand Jury identified the Young Hawgz as a gang with about 35 members in Marin City

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Darshawn McCraney and Owens and three others were members of the Bloodline gang, who assaulted and robbed customers Oct. 2 at the Speedway gas station

Darshawn McCraney and Adolph Owens will be sentenced April 13 by Common Pleas Judge Robert Gippin.jury found two 21-year-old Akron men guilty on Monday of criminal gang activity and robbery.Prosecutors said McCraney and Owens and three others were members of the Bloodline gang, who assaulted and robbed customers Oct. 2 at the Speedway gas station at Exchange and Brown streets.At trial, police presented numerous photographs of the group's gang activity in the city and at the University of Akron.Co-defendant Jamayne Ruiz pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to two years in prison. The other two defendants are juveniles with cases pending in juvenile court.

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Alvin Junior Lupichuk charged with five weapons offences, including possession of a sawed-off shotgun.

Alvin Junior Lupichuk, 28, is back in custody after his arrest late last week. He’s charged with five weapons offences, including possession of a sawed-off shotgun. Police allege they found him in possession of the deadly weapon and ammunition, along with quantities of cocaine and marijuana and some ill-gotten cash last Friday. Police refused Monday to comment on the circumstances of Lupichuk’s arrest, claiming it’s part of an ongoing organized crime investigation. In March, 2008, police began investigating after viewing two myspace.com videos featuring young men in the basement of a home filled with expensive-looking recording equipment waving around a sawed-off shotgun. Officers tracked down the identities of the men and location of the home and obtained a search warrant.
Police burst inside the Jefferson Avenue residence and found a small quantity of marijuana, along with a 42-inch television stolen from Ontario, an amplifier stolen from B.C. and two keyboards stolen from a Winnipeg church, Crown attorney Geoff Bayly said during a bail hearing for Lupichuk last year. A search of a car on the street outside the home resulted in the seizure of a sawed-off shotgun similar to the one police saw in the rap videos. Lupichuk allegedly told officers he needed the gun “for protection” from a rival rap-group in the city. Lupichuk is a member of local gangster-rap crew NorthSide Productions (NSP) which claims to have a long-standing dispute with rival city rappers Heatbag Productions.
In a self-produced video which is believed to have triggered the police investigation, Lupichuk and his crew threaten to shoot a member of Heatbag as many as 36 times. Lupichuk posted a picture of his list of bail conditions on a social-networking site showing he was instructed by the court to abide by a strict curfew and not contact or communicate with members of Heatbag. At the time of last year’s incident, it appeared that Lupichuk’s crew was possibly gearing up to escalate a long-standing dispute the group claims to have with the rival rap clan. Police also charged Lupichuk with a bail violation for not keeping the peace.

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Jimmy Gene Miller Jr.aka Jimmy Jam who the complaint asserts is an admitted member of the East Union Street Hustler gang

Jimmy Gene Miller Jr.aka Jimmy Jam who the complaint asserts is "an admitted member of the East Union Street Hustler gang." When Waters ran Miller's name through the National Crime Information Center database, a hit came back showing Miller had an outstanding felony warrant.Waters called out to Miller by his first name, asking him to come over to the car. Instead, Miller took off running with Waters in pursuit on foot.Miller stumbled and fell and a gun fell from his waistband, according to the complaint. Waters and Santiago arrested Miller on the scene. When backup arrived, Seattle officer R. Bell found a plastic bag in Miller's hooded sweat shirt that contained 19 grams of crack cocaine, the complaint says.The H&K .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol that allegedly fell from Miller's waistband had been reported stolen.Investigators consider Miller to be "a suspect in at least two unsolved shooting incidents," according to the complaint.When Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Lombardi Jr. recently learned that Miller was being held in the King County Jail since the October arrest, he decided to take the case to federal court, where the penalties are harsher than those meted out in state courts."Gang cases involving firearms are a priority," Lombardi said.If convicted, Miller faces a mandatory minimum five years in prison and up to 40 years for possession of crack with intent to sell it. He could be fined as much as $2 million. He also faces a maximum of 10 years for being a felon in possession of a weapon.Miller also was charged with carrying a firearm in relation to a drug crime, which would bring a mandatory minimum sentence of five years to run consecutively with any other sentence handed down.

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Gary Vue, 27, and his brother, Chong Vue, 29 wanted for the shooting death of 21-year-old Za Xiong

Gary Vue, 27, and his brother, Chong Vue, 29, of St. Paul, were the subject of an "America's Most Wanted" television show in November 2006. They were wanted for the shooting death of 21-year-old Za Xiong, who was killed in north Minneapolis in July 2001.The FBI's Minnesota Fugitive Task Force developed information that the Vues were in the area. They were arrested Monday morning in St. Paul.In March 2006, the Vues were charged with second-degree murder and later indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder. The Vues were members of the Oroville Mono Boys and Xiong of the Purple Brother Street gang.

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Arrested Andre Upshaw in connection with a trio of suspected gang-related shootings that left two men dead and a third injured.

Andre Upshaw, a suspected gang member, was taken into custody Monday by police who found him at a courthouse waiting to appear before a judge on a drug charge. Police say Upshaw was in a black truck when he drove by and shot each of the three victims in Echo Park and Glassell Park on Sunday. Thirty-eight-year-old Eric Zamarripa was the first person to be killed. The second was identified as 37-year-old Carlos Gonzalez. The third man, in his 30s, was taken to a hospital. Upshaw was booked for investigation of murder and held on $1 million bail

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Eric Zamarripa, 38, gang-related shooting was the first of three in Echo Park and Highland Park that left two people dead and one injured.

Eric Zamarripa, 38, gang-related shooting was the first of three in Echo Park and Highland Park that left two people dead and one injured. A suspected gang member was detained Monday in connection with the three shootings, as the Echo Park neighborhood where two of the shootings took place remained shaken.“It’s horrific,” said Susan Borden, 60, who has lived on Echo Park's Valentine Street for almost 30 years. “The fact that there were no innocent victims is amazing.”Borden and Chavez, 33, said the area has changed in recent years with more affluent people, young singles and trendy coffee shops moving in and with some Latino families, which had been there for decades, moving elsewhere. Chavez moved to Echo Park from Jalisco, Mexico, with his family when he was 17 and said it was “very, very rare” to have white people in the neighborhood in the 1990s. He said he began noticing the demographic shift about six years ago.The area used to be much more violent than it is now, Borden and Chavez said.“This is generally a fairly quiet neighborhood,” Borden said. “The neighborhood has changed radically, but there’s still some pockets” of violent activity.

Police said the three shootings were connected and gang-related. They began about 5 p.m. Sunday with shootings on Baxter Street and Echo Park Avenue. About a half-hour later, police said, the same man driving a black truck shot and killed Carlos Gonzalez, 37, in the 4300 block of Toland Way in Highland Park.

In a bizarre twist, police caught up with the suspected shooter in court. Andrew Upshaw, 33, was waiting Monday to appear before a judge on a single count of felony drug possession when police came into the downtown courtroom with their guns drawn and arrested him. He was being questioned by Los Angeles police, who expected to book him in connection with the shootings.Chavez, who works for the city’s Bureau of Sanitation, said that despite the shootings, he does not think his neighborhood is any more dangerous than most other places in L.A. Still, he did not want his two young children to know how his neighbor died. So he told them, “It’s a movie that somebody was filming.”Previous L.A. Now posts reported that the third shooting, on Toland Way, was in Glassell Park.

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Ronnie and Reggie Kray paintings under the hammer at Hampshire Auctions

Seven landscapes and one seascape painted by the twins during art classes at HMP Parkhurst and Broadmoor went under the hammer at Hampshire Auctions in Andover as part of a private sale by an anonymous vendor.Eight paintings produced by the east London gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray while in prison for murder sold for a combined total of £12,200 at auction today.An image of the two convicted murderers crossing a field in top hats and tail coats sold for £1,850, the highest price of any of the Kray paintings on the day. One 1971 painting of a stormy sea by Reggie Kray, which has echoes of the Japanese Edo period painter Hokusai, sold for £1,800. A portrait of the brothers signed by them and painted by Graham Young, a fellow inmate at Parkhurst who was serving time for murder, fetched £2,700. Other paintings by the Krays showed two men fishing by a lake, a country cottage, a country lane and a church on a hill. In two canvases the brothers painted the initials R R onto gateposts and signposts.The paintings outstripped the estimated sale value of £500 to £800 each. A spokesman for the auction house said nine phone bidders had driven up the prices, with one buyer taking four paintings.A copy of a book about the gangster brothers, signed by their colleague "Mad" Frankie Fraser and dedicated to a woman called Angela as thanks for looking after one of the twins, was also sold.
One hundred items from the twins' belongings were auctioned last month, including jewellery, letters, photos and clothing. They included Ronnie's trademark sunglasses, pictures from Reggie's 1965 wedding, suits, and a diamond-encrusted ring emblazoned with the name Ron.The auction house said it was planning a second sale of paintings by the Kray twins.

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Del Amo gang slayings Long Beach

Police are seeking witnesses after two men were fatally shot Sunday afternoon during a brawl involving several people in an alley off Del Amo Boulevard. The unidentified victims were among two groups of alleged gang members who met up near Cherry Avenue and Del Amo about 2 p.m., said Long Beach police Officer Jackie Bezart. "At some point in the altercation, shots were fired from one of the groups into the other, striking two men in that second group," Bezart said. One victim died at the scene, and another died at a local hospital. Police did not release suspect information Sunday night. The alley is adjacent a gas station and a grocery store that Bezart said were both busy with people Sunday afternoon. "It's very likely that because of the time of the day and the public location, somebody saw something that could help detectives solve this case," Bezart said. "We're going to need the public's assistance on this one." Detectives were also reportedly checking with local business owners for surveillance camera footage that may provide more leads.
The victims' names are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

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The Combination, a film about tensions between gangs of Australian lebanese and white youths in Sydney's western suburbs, was withdrawn

The Combination, a film about tensions between gangs of Australian lebanese and white youths in Sydney's western suburbs, was withdrawn by one of Australia's cinema chains after violence flared at two cinemas.film set during the race riots that hit Australia four years ago has been pulled from cinemas in Sydney after fights broke out during screenings.The cinema says it has taken the move for the safety of its staff. actor in a movie depicting violent Lebanese gangs set for release in cinemas next month has been arrested and jailed in real life.Ali Haidar, 19, is languishing in a cell at Silverwater on a serious assault charge but the makers of The Combination are hoping to have him out for the film's premiere .

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Philly Tat Convention battle between Pagans and Outlaws

Two motorcycle groups, the Pagans and Outlaws, were at the convention inside the Center City Sheraton when rival gang The Warlocks showed up, according to sources.Several people were arrested after a fight broke out between three biker gangs at the Philly Tattoo Arts Convention Sunday, police said.Then, for some reason, the ink hit the fan.Eight people were arrested after police broke up two fights, one inside the hotel and one on the street.
No one was seriously hurt.

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Officers shot and killed Oswain Walcott who was wanted for questioning in a South Beach man's death

Police had been searching for 22-year-old Oswain Walcott, whom they wanted to question in connection with the death of 18-year-old Bradley Paul. After searching for days, authorities found Walcott in an apartment complex at 119th Street and Northeast 16th Avenue on Wednesday afternoon. Miami-Dade police said there was a confrontation at the complex. Police said Walcott reached for his waistband while yelling to officers, and police opened fire, shooting Walcott.
He was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died Wednesday night.
Officers from both the Miami Beach and Miami-Dade police departments fired shots during the confrontation, Local 10's Elena Echarri reported. Investigators are trying to determine who actually shot Walcott. Before authorities found him, Miami Beach police called Walcott "extremely dangerous" in a news release Wednesday as the manhunt continued. On Tuesday, officers knocked on Walcott's door to talk to him about Paul, who was found dead in an alleyway in the 1000 block of Lenox Avenue on Saturday. When Walcott saw officers at the door of his apartment, he took off, police said. Miami Beach police said Walcott broke into a South Beach home and held a family hostage from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, fondling a teenager during that time. Walcott then ran to another apartment, where a woman was hurt, police said. She was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition. Police have not released details on how the woman was injured.
Police have not yet ruled Paul's death a homicide. Police would not comment on the cause of Paul's death, how they believed Walcott might have been involved or what he might have been able to bring to the case. An arrest warrant also was issued for Walcott in Georgia on a theft by burglary charge, Miami Beach police said.
Police are also looking for 28-year-old Romado Stephens for questioning.

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