HELLS VP GETS 10 YEARS FOR COCAINE TRAFFICKING

The vice-president of the Kelowna Hells Angels has admitted to
arranging a major cocaine deal that was caught by police surveillance
inside a Winnipeg fast-food restaurant and at a Calgary pig roast.

Lester Jones, 36, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison after
pleading guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine. He will spend
another six months behind bars if he can't pay a $20,000 fine.

Jones was among 18 suspects arrested last winter as part of Project
Drill, in which career criminal Scotty "Taz" Robertson was paid more
than $600,000 to infiltrate a cross-country drug network.

Jones was hanging Christmas lights outside his home when
heavily-armed police officers stormed in.

Manitoba Hells Angels president Dale Donovan and a full-patch biker
from Ontario were also arrested, and police broke up an alleged
murder-for-hire plot in the process.

"The agent's betrayal is quite evident in this case," Crown attorney
Chris Mainella told the judge.

Jones and Robertson had a long-time friendship that made it easy for
police to gather audio and video surveillance, he said.

Jones was caught arranging a two-kilogram cocaine deal in February
2007, which included a face-to-face meeting with Robertson in
Calgary. The agent agreed to pay $72,000 for a shipment that Jones
promised would be better than the cocaine currently available in Winnipeg.

The two men each agreed to have a courier represent them and they
cemented the deal by ripping apart a $5 bill and each taking half.

"That would be their code. The couriers would each have half the
bill," Mainella said.

A female RCMP officer played the role of Robertson's courier and met
Jones's representative at a south Winnipeg Burger King, where the two
kilograms of cocaine were turned over. Police found the drugs to be
80 per cent pure.

Robertson was then sent to Calgary days later to deliver the cash
payment to Jones, who was attending the Hells Angels annual "pig
roast," the judge was told.

Jones has spent the past seven months in custody, which was given
double-time credit by the courts. That leaves him with eight years,
10 months left on his sentence.

"The act of a Hells Angel coming into court and pleading guilty is a
significant one," said Mainella, noting most bikers choose to fight
their charges at trial.

"It's important people see that justice is being dispensed to people
from other jurisdictions who come here and poison the community," he said.

Mainella said the Crown had a very strong case, thanks to the work of
the agent, and Jones would have faced several more years in jail if
he hadn't agreed to plead guilty.

The lawyer said deals are a necessary part of the justice system to
keep it moving, noting a trial against Jones would have been costly,
time-consuming and required extensive security.

Only one other accused in Drill has admitted guilt. The City of
Winnipeg worker, who got caught doing a drug deal at a public golf
course, was sentenced to five years behind bars.