HELLS ANGEL ROCKS THE ROLE

Full-Patch Member Of Motorcycle Gang Raps About How He 'Lives Large,'
Parties With Celebrities

The tinted window of the classic white car rolls down to reveal the stony
face of Hells Angel Hal Bruce Porteous.

He beckons to an awestruck teen who leaves his bike behind and gets
into the car.

This is the opening scene of a rap music video starring Porteous, a
Vancouver member of the notorious motorcycle gang who sings under the
name Hal Heffner.

A Vancouver Sun investigation has uncovered dozens of online photos
and videos featuring Porteous, sometimes in Angels colours, posing
with scantily clad women and partying with friends. Other images show
him backstage with pop stars Fergie, Rihanna and Swollen Members.

He promotes himself as an "old school gangster" in music videos for
such songs as Do Ur Time, Living Large and the self-titled OSG. He's
draped in gold chains and surrounded by flashy cars and women in bikinis.

One of the men featured with Porteous in some of the photos and a
video is Robert J. Shannon, a Maple Ridge trucker who pleaded guilty
this week in Seattle to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and
marijuana, as well as money laundering. The U.S. alleges the drug ring
operated for the benefit of the Hells Angels.

Police and criminologists say the gangster imagery of Porteous's music
and the fact he is a real-life full-patch member of an alleged
criminal organization make for a disturbing mix.

Criminologist Darryl Plecas of the University of the Fraser Valley
said the "messaging" in Porteous's songs can entice youth to the gang
lifestyle.

"This particular kind of negative messaging just can't be good news,"
Plecas said Wednesday.

"The more people are exposed to what could be called negative
definitions and negative experiences, you increase the probability
that you are going to end up in crime. The name of the game is to
reduce the number of negative influences."

There is no lack of flash in Porteous's OSG video, which starts in
black and white with the boy being taken into the limo and introduced
to men dressed in Mafia-like suits, sunglasses and hats. When the
video moves to colour and modern times, Porteous raps while a bundle
of cash flies through a counting machine.

Some of the lyrics from his songs include:

"I solve all my problems with a loaded gun," "Double-cross me and
you'll run for your life" and "Basically, my attitude is f--k authority."

Plecas said some may argue the lyrics are irrelevant, but he argues,
"If they are not influential or not important, then why have the
lyrics at all?"

Simon Fraser University school of criminology director Rob Gordon said
Porteous's imagery is "over the top."

"He is not trying to sell the Hells Angels like they try to sell the
Hells Angels with the toy drive," he said of the bikers' annual
charity event.

Instead, the videos are promoting "a combination of violence, sex and
gang culture," Gordon said.

"It boils down to what impact it has on kids that look on this
stuff."

Porteous did not respond to online requests for an interview about his
music and his relationship with Shannon, the man sitting in a Seattle
jail awaiting his sentencing hearing next March.

Nor did Hells Angels Vancouver spokesman Rick Ciarniello respond to an
e-mail request for comments on Porteous's music career or the U.S.
allegations that Shannon's drug ring was linked to the biker club.

The Vancouver Angel, who is listed as a goldsmith on the land title
for his Maple Ridge home, is selling his debut CD Living Large on his
website.

He says the luxury home featured in the OSG video is his
house.

"All the things you will see are not movie-making magic, it is my
life," he said on the website. "The cars, the girls, the bling are all
normal parts of my everyday. All the cars are either mine or my
friends, the bling ---- I make!!! YES it's All REAL!!!"

He also says he and his friends "live large -- we drive the best
rides, with gold and diamonds profilin,' the babes are all lined up
We're never goin to STOP!"

Porteous is featured on the site with members of the band Swollen
Members, with whom he says he has performed.

The Sun reported in 2003 that several Hells Angels members and
associates were featured in a Swollen Members video.

At the time, full-patch member Damiano Dipopolo said he was a close
friend of Shane Bunting, a.k.a. Mad Child, one of the group's lead
singers.

"He was putting the videos together and asked whether we wanted to be
in them. We just showed up and volunteered our time," he said,
stressing that his club had no business relationship with the rap group.

According to property records, Porteous's Maple Ridge home was
assessed this year at $705,000.

His name surfaced in a Federal Court of Canada case earlier this year
as one of 42 Hells Angels, relatives or associates being targeted for
special audits by the Canada Revenue Agency. The government dropped
its demand for detailed financial information after the bikers
challenged the CRA in court.

Porteous was flying back from Brazil with fellow Vancouver chapter
member Rick Conway when they were met at Vancouver airport by a
revenue agent and two cops, court documents said.

Porteous "was extremely unhappy to be served at this location and
tried to get into a verbal confrontation," the agent later wrote in
his file memo. "Porteous made a reference that we were cockroaches
which should be stepped on."

Porteous was also named in a 2004 trial of Rick Mandi -- a Hells
Angels prospect at the time -- who was convicted of beating a man he
believed had stolen marijuana belonging to Porteous.

Porteous's move into the rap music world isn't surprising considering
the relationships in the U.S. between some rappers and gangs, Sgt.
Shinder Kirk of the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force said Wednesday.

"It was just a matter of time before these guys would look at
opportunities to earn legitimate money and certainly at some point
influence others," Kirk said.

He said it is no secret that kids living in poverty or facing other
risks are susceptible to imagery promoting the gang lifestyle, whether
in songs, video games or movies.

"Certainly the music, the lyrics, the status of someone involved in
the music industry, can play a significant part in an individual's
makeup and how it manifests itself in a social setting -- in other
words, encouraging criminal behaviour," Kirk said. "When someone is
blatantly associated to a group that may be involved in criminal
activity, that possibly compounds the effect."