 | Plans to transport 1.5m contraband cigarettes went up in smoke for a Lumby man. Vernon RCMP seized the illegal smokes following a routine traffic stop in Vernon on Jan. 8.
The 45-year-old was released from custody pending a court appearance.
Cops investigate.
Contraband cigarettes is a multimillion-dollar business in Canada.  |
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 | 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. |  |
 | 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 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 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” |  |
 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. |
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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. |
 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. |   |
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 | All 15 Blume crew were arrested. The ship limped across the Atlantic at some 4-6 knots. Manager of the ship is Dignatio Corp. | 
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| 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. |
