DRUG-TRAFFICKING RULING DUE FOR HELLS ANGELS CONVICTED ONCE
ALREADY

Judge Should Quash More Serious Charge

A judge is expected to decide today whether to dismiss charges against
two members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang accused of drug
trafficking on behalf of a criminal organization.

Randy Potts and John Punko, full-patch members of the East End chapter
of the notorious biker gang, were arrested in July 2005 and charged
with trafficking in methamphetamines. They were also charged with the
more serious offence of committing the crimes for a criminal gang.

In July of this year, a B.C. Supreme Court jury found the two men
guilty of weapons offences but not guilty of committing the crimes for
a criminal group.

Their lawyers have asked B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask, the
trial judge in the drug case, to quash the criminal-organization
counts related to the drug charges because, they say, the jury in the
weapons case decided that the East End chapter was not a criminal
organization.

But federal prosecutors have challenged that application for a
so-called "order of issue estoppal" prohibiting Crown counsel from
proceeding on the criminal gang counts.

In written Crown submissions, prosecutor Martha Devlin says that the
defence application invites the judge to engage in "impermissible
speculation and conjecture" with respect to the jury findings.

"The position of the respondent is that the applicant's submission is
fatally flawed," said the Crown document.

"Simply put, they are trying to read too much into the verdict of not
guilty."

After hearing submissions Thursday, Leask told the lawyers he would
issue his ruling today, with reasons to follow at a later date. The
trial is to open Dec. 7 in Vancouver.

In the weapons case, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Selwynn Romilly
sentenced Punko and Potts effectively to one day in jail, thanks to
double-time credit for pre-sentence custody. Punko remains in custody
but Leask has released Potts on bail.

A third co-accused, Ronaldo Lising, received a sentence of 30 months
in prison to be served consecutively with a nine-year, three-month
stretch he was serving from three other convictions.

A fourth co-accused, Jean Violette, was sentenced to six years in
prison for weapons offences and extortion.

In March 2008, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Anne MacKenzie acquitted
David Giles, a full-patch member of the East End chapter, of all
charges, including that he engaged in drug

trafficking for a criminal organization.