Vancouver gangsters get 11- to 14-year prison terms for plot to kill rivals

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VANCOUVER – A B.C. Supreme Court judge said Monday that five men who hunted their rivals during a Metro Vancouver gang war were a danger to everyone.

Justice Janice Dillon called the actions of the five men “heinous” and “wicked,” as she sentenced them to prison time ranging from 11 to 14 years.

Young Sung Lee, Dilun Heng, Barzan Tilli-Choli, Karwan Saed and Ion Kroitoru admitted last week to a murder conspiracy aimed at the notorious Bacon Brothers — Jamie, Jarrod and Jonathan — the leaders of the rival Red Scorpions’ gang.

But the judge also gave the men double credit for the time they already served while awaiting trial.

The men have been in custody since 2009, before the federal laws were changed eliminated double credit.

It means the men will serve between three and five more years in prison.

Crown counsel spokesman Neil MacKenzie said the judge condemned the actions of the men.

“The judge spoke very strongly of the circumstances, obviously finding it to be a disturbing case that showed what she characterized as a ruthless disregard for life, not just the lives of targeted individuals, but the lives of the public generally,” he said.

An agreed statement of facts filed with the court showed the men were battling over which gang controlled the Lower Mainland drug-trafficking network.

Over a 13-month period, shootings escalated as the war gripped Metro Vancouver.

It resulted in the death of an innocent man.

Stereo installer Jonathan Barber was shot and killed, as he was driving Jonathan Bacon’s Porsche. He was going to install some speakers in the vehicle.

Barber’s girlfriend, who was following behind him, was injured.

UN gang member Daniel Russell pleaded guilty to conspiracy and manslaughter for his part in Barber’s death and was given a 12-year prison term earlier this year.

The court documents outline how UN gang leader Clayton Roueche offered thousands of dollars in rewards for those who managed to murder the Bacon brothers and their associates.

By the end of the indictment periods, the documents say, the reward for Jamie Bacon had reached about $300,000.

Jamie Bacon faces trial for conspiracy to commit murder in connection to the deaths of six people in a Surrey, B.C. highrise October 2007.

Jarrod Bacon has been convicted of drug trafficking and was sentenced to 12 years in jail.

Jonathan Bacon was killed when a hail of bullets were fired into a vehicle in Kelowna in 2011. (News 1130)

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