AGITATED CROWN DEFENDS GANG TRIAL

The lead Crown counsel in the Manitoba Warriors trial came out
swinging yesterday, finally breaking his silence on last week's
controversial end to the landmark case by defending its merit and
outlining details of the charges for the first time.

Crown attorney Bob Morrison was clearly agitated by any suggestion the
$9.5 million legal saga had failed, despite the fact new federal
organized crime charges had been dropped in exchange for guilty pleas
to a variety of drug offences.

As he held up an unloaded high-powered assault rifle seized by police
during their lengthy undercover investigation, Morrison urged Justice
Nathan Nurgitz to realize the seriousness of the gang and their crimes
when sentencing the 12 accused this week.

"This has no other use but to kill people," Morrison said of the
weaponry.

"Gangs affect us all. They cause fear and unrest. Kids are afraid to
go to school. People are afraid to go downtown. Winnipeg isn't such a
good place to live any more. This isn't hysteria. It is real and justified."

The Justice Department had refused to comment on the surprise
resolution of the trial, which began last September and was expected
to last another year.

But as the Warriors' week-long sentencing hearing began yesterday,
Morrison had plenty to say as he attacked the media for its coverage
of the case and singled out the Free Press for a variety of stories
and a headline last week that said the Warriors case had ended "with a
whimper."

"(The media) seems intent on ignoring what this case is all about.
Some might think there are misplaced politics here. But I can assure
you, you won't hear much whimpering from me," said Morrison.

"This is a case about a large-scale, organized cocaine trafficking
operation involving a massive conspiracy. Without cocaine trafficking,
the Warriors simply would not have existed."

Although he didn't say why the Crown abandoned Canada's first test of
the new gang legislation by dropping the organized crime charges,
Morrison repeatedly referred to the Warriors as a sophisticated
criminal organization as he outlined evidence gathered over the
year-long investigation.

He went over their lengthy criminal records and said they still have
continued to function as a gang while behind bars by holding regular
meetings and discussing gang issues.

Morrison said the charge of conspiracy to traffic cocaine, to which
seven of the 12 pleaded guilty last week, is the most serious charge
they were facing. It carries a maximum of life in prison. The federal
gang conspiracy legislation carries 14 years.

Prior to last week, 22 other accused had pleaded guilty and received
sentences ranging from three to nine years, once pre-trial custody was
factored in.

The sentencing hearing for the 12 remaining accused -- whom the Crown
alleges are main players in the gang -- is to last all week. Eight of
the 12 were in court yesterday and are expected to be sentenced by
Thursday, while the other four will be sentenced individually on Friday.

Sources say they are being dealt with separately because the Crown and
defence will be submitting joint sentencing recommendations for
Nurgitz to approve.

Defence lawyers are expected to begin their submissions today. They
will be joined by two prominent lawyers from British Columbia who are
expected to ask for leniency based on a number of issues, including
the aboriginal background of the accused and the 20 months they have
spent in custody since their arrest.

The Crown has not yet specified the length of sentences it is seeking,
but Morrison asked Nurgitz to utilize other aspects of the Criminal
Code that call for stiffer penalties in cases of organized criminal
conduct.

"We don't allege they have the same circumstances as the Mafia or the
Hells Angels. They're in the junior leagues compared to them," said
Morrison. "But they are a critical, essential, irreplaceable link in
the cocaine trade."

Morrison said a conservative estimate would see the Warriors
distribute nearly 23 kilograms of cocaine every year through a variety
of core-area hotels. Cocaine is usually sold in quarter-gram flaps for
about $25 each, meaning there could have been nearly 150,000 separate
deals worth $3.6 million during any given year.

He said the drugs were usually obtained in large quantities from
outlaw motorcycle gangs, whom the Warriors had modelled themselves
after by having an executive and holding monthly meetings.

Morrison said the gang executive would disperse the drugs in the same
fashion a well-structured company would distribute its product.

"It was organized so that everybody, from the highest to the lowest,
would make money," said Morrison, noting one of the lowest ranking
members told police he made $7,000 peddling cocaine during a two-month
period.

Morrison said failure to follow demands in the street gang would earn
a "severe physical beating."

Police and the Crown built their cases through a variety of sources,
including gang members turned informants.

In at least one instance, police audio-taped a member of the Warriors
threatening to torture and kill one of the so-called "rats" by cutting
off all his limbs and delivering them in a garbage bag to the man's
family, said Morrison.