BIKERS PLEAD GUILTY

Anti-Gang Charges Against Hells Angels To Be Dropped

Pre-dawn raids last December against the Hells Angels that went off with a
very public splash appeared to fizzle in Dartmouth provincial court yesterday.

The raids marked the first time the federal government's new anti-gang
legislation had been used in Atlantic Canada. Prosecutors expect to drop
the charges in exchange for guilty pleas on drug trafficking charges from
five gang members and their associates.

The Angels had pleaded not guilty to all the charges, but five changed the
pleas in Dartmouth provincial court yesterday.

Arthur Daine Harrie and chapter president Clay Gordon McCrea each pleaded
guilty to one count of trafficking cocaine. Graham Anton Carter and Jeffrey
Lynds each pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking ecstasy.

They will be sentenced Jan. 29. Prosecutor Paul Riley told Judge Flora
Buchan that at that time charges of belonging to a gang will likely be dropped.

In an interview, Riley refused to discuss what will happen, saying the four
have not yet been sentenced. "I was advising the court on what I anticipate
will be happening," he said.

Riley said the intent of the 10-month police investigation "was to
infiltrate and try to disrupt" the bikers' operations in metro, because
they constituted a "significant element of the drug trade in the Halifax
region."

To that end, Riley said, the raids were "largely successful."

Devin James Skeard, who has been held in jail since the raids, pleaded
guilty yesterday to one charge of trafficking ecstasy and one charge of
possessing a firearm without the proper registration. Dressed in grey
shorts, with tattoos on his neck and around his left calf and sunglasses
perched on his shaved head, Skeard leaned forward to a supporter and told
him life in jail is good. "I've been high every day. I'm still high."

Buchan agreed to a recommendation from both the prosecution and defence to
sentence Skeard to another 32 months in jail.

Skeard sold an agent more than 1,200 ecstasy pills at $13 each, saying he
does his business at raves. Police found a .32-calibre handgun in a woman's
snakeskin boot during a raid on his home as part of the sweep last
December. Riley said they also found a bullet-proof vest and a kit with
latex gloves and ammunition for a different calibre gun.

At 28, Skeard has 17 other convictions, mostly for violent offences. Buchan
said she hopes he uses his time in jail to think of more productive uses
for his skills.

In all, 20 people were arrested, including full club members and
associates. Police also seized drugs, weapons, cars and Harley-Davidson
motorcycles.