Mike on Crime

By Mike McIntyre and Bruce Owen
Winnipeg Free Press

A Hells Angels member wanted to have his own brother killed in an alleged plot that was exposed by a longtime Manitoba biker associate who was working undercover as a police agent, the Free Press has learned.
James Allen Heickert, 44 – a full-patch biker from the Oshawa, Ontario chapter – is charged with conspiracy to commit murder against Thompson resident Sean Heickert, according to court documents obtained Thursday.
Dean Gurniak, 34, and Stanley Lucovic, 44, are facing similar charges. They are also residents of Thompson.
The alleged plan to kill Sean Heickert began on Nov. 27 and may have forced police to bring an abrupt end to their year-long undercover probe, dubbed “Project Drill”.
It may also explain why the man was taken into custody this past weekend in Thompson following the shooting death of Hells Angels associate Bekim Zeneli. RCMP released him days later without laying any charges and say they simply wanted to “question” him.
No arrests have been made in Zeneli’s killing and it’s not clear what, if any, link may exist between his death and this case.
The plug was pulled on Project Drill Wednesday when more than 250 officers across Canada conducted a series of raids, arresting James Heickert, Gurniak, Lucovic and 13 others who they say had been involved in high-level drug trafficking and gun smuggling. Two other suspects were still being sought on warrants as of late Thursday.
Scotty “Taz’ Robertson, 49, has been identified in court documents and by justice sources as the man who helped police expose the criminal activities, which included a threat to kill Sean Heickert during the past week.
Robertson was paid a hefty sum to work as an undercover agent, which allowed police to conduct surveillance and obtain wiretap evidence against the accused.
Robertson is no stranger to Manitoba’s biker scene.
He was connected to the now-defunct Spartans motorcycle gang in the 1980s and later joined the Redliners.
The Redliners were set up in the 1990s with people hand-picked by Walter Stadnick, a top Hells Angel based in Montreal who is credited with expanding the gang coast-to-coast in Canada. Stadnick was convicted conspiracy to commit murder, participation in a criminal organization and drug trafficking in 2004.
The Redliners broke apart in the late 1990s when the Hells Angels chose the Los Brovos instead to represent them in Manitoba. Only one Redliner was made a Hells Angel, but he has since been kicked out of the gang.
Although not a member, Robertson never completely severed his gang connections.
“He’s an old-time biker,” a source said. “For the most part he always flew under the radar.”
Another source said Robertson was close to Darwin Sylvester, the leader of the Spartans who disappeared in 1998 and is presumed dead.
“Him and Darwin were tight,” he said. “They were always together.”
Robertson was most recently working as a trucker driver in Thompson and is now in witness protection, according to justice sources.
He is the second person to infiltrate the Manitoba Hells Angels in recent years. Career criminal Franco Atanasovic was paid $525,000 for his undercover work that resulted in the February 2006 arrests of three full-patch members and 10 associates.
In this case, police arrested newly-elected president Dale Donovan, local Hells Angel prospect Al LeBras, full-patch Ontario member Heickert and another full-patch member from Kelowna, B.C.
Arrests were also made in North Vancouver, Edmonton and Minnesota.
During the Project Drill investigation, which began in November 2006, police seized 11 kilograms of cocaine, 2,000 tablets of methamphetamine, 13 pounds of marijuana, five machine pistols and three handguns imported unlawfully from the U.S.
Lawyers for the accused were given a huge volume of evidence Thursday morning including a computer hard drive and several binders. Bail applications are expected to begin as early as next week.
There’s another twist to the case.
The man who police say was slated to be killed – Sean Heickert – is himself a convicted killer. He was only recently paroled after serving a lengthy prison sentence for manslaughter stemming from the death of an Ontario man in 1994, the Free Press has learned. Two co-accused were convicted of first-degree murder.
The men abducted the victim and took him to a home in retaliation for supposedly robbing and assaulting one of the co-accused’s mother. It was later learned it was not the victim, but his twin brother who had attacked the woman. After being brutally beaten the victim was taken to a wooded area and dumped. His body, partly eaten by animals, was found a month later.

*****

By Mike McIntyre
One of the 18 targets of “Project Drill” was spared a lengthy prison sentence Thursday for his role in an unrelated drug case after a judge cited his promising future as grounds for leniency.
Allen Raymond Morrison, 35, received one year behind bars in addition to six months of time in custody for being in possession of a cocaine-filled duffel bag during a 2003 incident.
He was found guilty in October following a trial. The Crown was seeking a much longer penitentiary term.
Queen’s Bench Justice Perry Schulman made no mention of Morrison’s new arrest this week for his alleged involvement in a major drug trafficking network involving the Hells Angels.
Morrison was taken down in the cross-Canada sweep early Wednesday and is charged with selling cocaine and possession of goods obtained by crime. The alleged incidents occurred during the past year.
The allegations have not been proven and he is presumed innocent.
Schulman applauded Morrison Thursday for trying to surround himself with “more positive influences” in his life and focusing on a future with fiancee and young child.
“He has taken steps towards rehabilitation,” said Schulman, who mentioned Morrison had found a full-time job and moved out of Winnipeg.
Morrison was described by police Wednesday as being a Hells Angels “hangaround.”
Crown and defence lawyers had made their submissions to Schulman prior to Morrison’s new arrest, and no additional information was given to the judge Thursday morning before his decision.

*****

By Bruce Owen
The arrest of the president of the Manitoba chapter of the Hells Angels and more than a dozen gang associates on drug, gun and murder conspiracy charges is turning into one of the biggest assaults against the outlaw bikers in Western Canada.
In the hours after eight police raids in Manitoba RCMP in Kelowna, B.C. uncovered a huge illegal gun cache allegedly connected to the Hells Angels.
Staff Sgt. Neil Skippon said the gun seizure came as a spin-off of Project Drill, a year-long police investigation against the Manitoba Hells Angels. Two out-of-province Hells Angels were also arrested.
Inside the Kelowna home police found five handguns, two assault rifles (including an AR-15), a shotgun, an Uzi type hand-held submachine and two Tasers.
RCMP said most of the guns were easily accessible within the home and fully loaded. Inside the house at the time were a 30-year-old woman, her two-year-old child and a 29-year-old man.
Police also searched a 2007 Cadillac Escalade parked outside, finding it had been outfitted with a secret hydraulic compartment. Inside were five small .32 calibre single shot handguns, which are easily concealed in a coat or pant pocket.
In the garage officers found a home-made bomb hidden floor safe. The bomb posed no immediate danger and was safely disposed.
Charges are pending against the 29-year-old man located at the residence and one other man. 
Police in B.C. also arrested a 34-year-old man in Vancouver Wednesday night. Donald Bryce Lyons of Kelowna is charged with multiple drug offences. RCMP said he his a member of the Independent Soldiers Organization, which is a puppet gang of the Hells Angels in B.C.
A second Kelowna man, Hells Angel member Lester Robert Jones, 35, was arrested earlier Wednesday. Jones also faces drug charges. A report in the Kelowna Daily Courier said Jones was arrested as he put up Christmas lights.
The two men were arrested along with Manitoba Hells Angel president Dale Donovan, 33, and Hells Angel prospect Al LeBras, 56, in a year-long probe of drug and gun smuggling in Western Canada.
More than 250 police participated in the cross-country crackdown on “high-level members of organized crime and drug trafficking cells” operating in Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta and B.C., according to Winnipeg police. Warrants were issued for 18 people in Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, Kelowna, North Vancouver and the U.S. Two have yet to be arrested.
Joel Christopher Bohheimer, 37, was arrested in Edmonton yesterday and charged with drug trafficking. 
During the investigation police seized 11 kilograms of cocaine, 2,000 tablets of methamphetamine and 13 pounds of marijuana. Also seized during the investigation were five machine pistols and three handguns imported unlawfully from the U.S.