Bennward Ingram, dinosaur footprint poacher, nailed

Alberta resident Bennward Dale Ingram, 39, along with three others, used power tools to excavate and remove fossils of dinosaur footprints that were a part of the Six Peaks Dinosaur Track Site in Northern B.C. He was sentenced to 25 days in jail and ordered to pay a $15k fine. A judge described the damage done to the Six Peaks Dinosaur Track Site near Hudson’s Hope as extensive when the men vandalized it in 2020. The sentencing describes the site as one of the most important in North America, with more than 500 dinosaur footprints. Austin McNolty also pleaded guilty and was handed a 30-day sentence and $23k in fines.

The document is Here.

“These tracks represent diverse dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous epoch who walked on sandy ground 125 to 113 million years ago, following which their tracks were fossilized.” None of the fossils were recovered.

Judge Darin Reeves pointed to the “deliberate nature” of the act as an aggravating factor, noting the work took more than 2.5 hours and only stopped when the men realized there were witnesses present.

Four years in jail for gangster attack on retired Montreal cop

Sandel Pierre, 21, struck Pietro Poletti with a brick during an attack on the ex-detective and his mother in LaSalle in 2020. He was one of three men who attacked the pair. He bought 4 years.

The crown sought 8 years.

The court noted there was no evidence of a motive for the assault on Pietro Poletti and his mother. Before he retired, Poletti had been an expert on the Montreal Mafia and organized crime for decades. Neither victim required hospitalization. Mitchaino Bruno, who is affiliated with the Profit Boyz has been found guilty. He was sentenced to 8 years in June for discharging a gun in front of a convenience store in Montreal North. Yadley Deutz Saint Jean, 25 was also found guilty of assaulting Poletti. The two gangsters will be sentenced in June.

Richard Barnett crying now - convicted on all counts

Richard Barnett shouted that it was “not fair” that he remain in jail. Barnett complained of his pretrial detention after the next court date was set for May. “The government keeps dragging this out and letting everybody else out,” Barnett cried. Barnett was photographed with his feet on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s desk during the riot at the Capitol. He was found guilty of 8 Federal charges. “I made some bad mistakes and I regret them, but I don’t think I broke the law,” Barnett foolishly said. Barnett decided to testify and the jury took less than 2 hours to find him guilty on all counts.

Barnett will be sentenced May 3 and is looking at serious time for his crimes.

Trump takes selfie with mob boss Joseph 'Skinny Joey' Merlino

Trump and notorious Philly mob boss Joseph 'Skinny Joey' Merlino wound up in a photo together at a South Florida golf course. Trump posed for the photo with Merlino at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach.

The Philadelphia Inquirer notes "They share an affinity for golf and an aversion to cooperating witnesses who “flip” to help federal investigators.

Commentators say Trump "lacks the sort of protective political infrastructure that would prevent a candidate for president from taking a picture with a convicted mobster whose last stint in federal prison ended in mid-2020." Merlino is the current mob boss in Philadelphia. See ----->Philly Mob Boss Merlino; “It’s easy to kill somebody”

Canadian cops raise alarm over ghost guns

The OPP seized 18 such weapons in 2022, after having found one in 2021.

Cops in Canada seized more than 100 3D-printed guns last year. In Calgary, cops seized 17 3D-printed guns in 2022, compared to just one each in 2021 and 2020. The guns have been found across the country, from cities such as Saskatoon and Winnipeg, to smaller towns. In December, Winnipeg cops busted a ghost gun maker. In NL a Feb bust nailed another manufacturer. Eight 3D-printed firearm frames were seized, along with multiple printers and including silencers, which were also 3D-printed. In Saskatoon, cops seized two 3D printers and gun parts — a first for police there. Cops said that across the country, an untraceable gun can sell for between $2,500 and $7,500.

Bill C-21, Canada's recently introduced firearms legislation, does not target ghost guns specifically. In most U.S. states, residents are allowed to make a gun for personal use. 3 weeks ago the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) issued an open letter to federal firearms dealers saying a rule that went into effect in August applies to certain partially completed pistol frames and parts kits, subjecting them to regulation. This closes the ‘ghost guns’ loophole in US federal law.

See ----->3D-printed ghost guns
See ----->3D printed ghost gun bust in NL

Mongols David Martinez pulls 10 years for killing cop - out soon

David Martinez

David Martinez of the Mongols MC was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading no contest to charges of voluntary manslaughter for killing a Pomona police officer during a 2014 raid. Martinez shot SWAT Officer Shaun Diamond with a shotgun, severing his spine and shattering his jaw. He could be out of prison as soon as March. By March, Martinez will have served 85% of his sentence, the statutory minimum for violent crimes in California. One day after the Oct. 28, 2014 shooting, Diamond was taken off life support and died at Pasadena’s Huntington Hospital.

Spanish cops land 3 tonnes of cocaine

Spanish cops found three tonnes of cocaine on a cargo vessel off the Canary Islands. The 4,300-dwt Blume was intercepted 193 nautical miles (360 km) from the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The Togo-flag vessel was reportedly sailing with AIS turned off. The Blume had left the port of Santos, in Brazil, on Dec 20. Its destination was listed as Riga in Latvia.

All 15 Blume crew were arrested. The ship limped across the Atlantic at some 4-6 knots. Manager of the ship is Dignatio Corp.

Gansta G Gang of Four: Genesis, Grayscale, Galaxy, Gemini - update III

Crypto lender Genesis announced that it had filed for bankruptcy.  The health of Genesis, DCG and its affiliated units is critical to the future of others in the crypto space. The apparent pending failure of Genesis stands to bury DCG and its affiliated units. (some 160 entities) Genesis owes DCG $1.1b. DCG owes creditors over $3b. Fears were swirling that $10b bitcoin and crypto giant Digital Currency Group (DCG) was in trouble after its crypto lender Genesis was forced to pause withdrawals and was seeking an emergency $1b loan.

These are four prominent companies in the crypto space; two are associated with crypto billionaire Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group – Grayscale and Genesis Global Capital. The future of crypto exchange Gemini and Galaxy Digital is also uncertain.

Juan Ramon Fernandez - Joe Bravo

In the early 2000s, Italian police intercepted a conversation regarding a drug deal between Mississauga mob figure Juan Ramon Fernandez and a Sicilian mafioso working for Messina Denaro. In the conversation Messina Denaro is referred to by his nickname of 'Diabolik'. Fernandez admitted guilt to a half-dozen underworld charges involving a murder plot, conspiring to traffic 1,000 kg of cocaine with Montreal’s Vito Rizzuto crime group and local Hells Angels, using forged passports, possessing a counterfeit credit card and defrauding a bank. Fernandez supported Rizzuto in his expansion from his Quebec base into the GTA in the early 2000s. The Rizzuto group encountered resistance from GTA underworld groups like the ’Ndrangheta. Fernandez used the names Joe Bravo, Johnny Bravo and James Shaddock.

Juan Ramon Fernandez, right, with Giuseppe Carbone shortly before Carbone killed him.

Two mobsters in Sicily were sentenced to life for killing two gangsters from Canada in 2016. Juan Ramon Fernandez, 56, had been deported from Canada when he was murdered. Dying beside him was Fernando Pimentel, who was visiting Italy to help his exiled boss. Pietro Scaduto, 51, Salvatore Scaduto, 54, and Giuseppe Carbone shot Fernandez and Pimentel to death on April 9, 2013.

Pietro Scaduto, left, Salvatore Scaduto. Giuseppe Carbone became a cooperating witness against the brothers.

Fernandez was close to both Rizzuto and Raynald Desjardins. Desjardins had brought Fernandez into a higher echelon of crime, but it was Rizzuto who gave him his power. Fernandez claimed Rizzuto even inducted him as a “made man” of the Mafia — despite him being Spanish, not Italian. Fernandez’s sin was failure to chose sides: He was “like a priest who visits all the churches.”

The order to kill Fernandez came from Canada. The bodies were dumped in a shallow grave and set ablaze. The car was then driven to a different location and was set on fire to destroy evidence. Unable to resist profit Carbone slipped an expensive watch off Fernandez’s wrist. It had been a gift to him from Rizzuto. Carbone was later caught trying to sell the watch, leading to his arrest. He agreed to help police with their investigation and to testify against his co-accused, becoming a “pentito” in Italian parlance.

Ryan Mark Daigneault back behind bars

Ryan Mark Daigneault was awaiting trial on a dozen drug trafficking and weapons charges. He is back behind bars charged with assault causing bodily harm. Daigneault was one of 10 people busted 2 years ago in Project Weaver, a probe of gun and drug trafficking led by the OPP’s biker enforcement unit. The investigation targeted 4 criminal organizations, including the Outlaws in London. Ryan 'Big Red' Daigneault appeared in a London court by video link. He was remanded in custody pending an appearance.

Cops seized 31 guns, 81 grenades, two grenade launchers, 22 other prohibited devices, three explosive projectiles, 98 kg of pot, 16 kg of magic mushrooms, 10 kg of cocaine, more than two kg of hashish, 715 grams of MDMA, 8 vehicles and $130k in cash.

In 2018 Daigneault walked from accusations of plotting a hit on a member of the Hells Angels. While Daigneault was in custody awaiting trial the Hells Angels arranged an assault. They sent the wrong tuffs and Daigneault lived up to his 'Big Red'. The assault failed miserably.