A Hells Angels associate has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to a string of charges from his arrest in an undercover police sting operation.
Allen Morrison, 38, was one of 18 people targeted during Project Drill, in which a secret agent was paid $625,000 plus expenses to conduct a series of drug deals which were captured by police audio and video surveillance.
Morrison was caught in 2007 arranging four major cocaine deals in which he sent a lower-level "courier" to meet with the agent at various city locations, including Polo Park Shopping Centre, Shoppers Drug Mart, Burger King and A&W in which cash and drugs changed hands.
Morrison was a longtime biker associate, officially deemed a "Hangaround", who was slowly climbing the criminal ladder at the time of his arrest, court was told.
Morrison also pleaded guilty Tuesday to obstruction of justice for his actions at a December 2007 sentencing hearing on drug offences from 2003. At the time, Morrison and his lawyer told court he had walked away from his gang affiliations, moved out of Winnipeg with his wife and children and was looking forward to living a life on the straight and narrow.
In fact, Morrison had just spent the past few months practically begging to be made a full-patch Hells member and deliberately misled the court in an attempt to get a more lenient sentence, court was told.
Morrison apologized for his actions Tuesday and spoke of a "new way of thinking" which including living crime-free once he is released from prison. A cynical Queen’s Bench Justice Brenda Keyser wasn’t buying it.
"I have great difficulty believing there’s any truth to that," she said. "It’s not the first time he has tried to con the court."
Morrison was given single-time credit for 28 months of pre-trial custody, meaning he has six years and two months left to serve. He was also ordered to pay back $50,000 he received in exchange for the drugs he supplied to the agent and will have to spent another year behind bars if he can’t come up with the cash.
Biker pleads guilty
Has longtime biker associate and drug dealer Allen Morrison changed his ways?
A judge who sentenced him to 8.5 years in prison doesn't think so.
Morrison pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and obstruction of justice. The last charge is in connection to Morrison's attempt to mislead the court into believing he was turning his back on a life of crime.
"I have grave doubts Mr. Morrison seriously wants to move in a positive direction," said Justice Brenda Keyser. "It's not the first time he has tried to con the court."
Morrison, 38, was one of 18 people arrested in December 2007 as part of a undercover police investigation targeting the Hells Angels and its associates.
Biker, drug dealer jailed 8.5 years
Has longtime biker associate and drug dealer Allen Morrison changed his ways?
A judge who sentenced him to 81/2 years in prison doesn’t think so.
Morrison pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and obstruction of justice. The last charge is in connection to Morrison’s attempt to mislead the court into believing he was turning his back on a life of crime.
“I have grave doubts Mr. Morrison seriously wants to move in a positive direction,” said Justice Brenda Keyser. “It’s not the first time he has tried to con the court.”
Morrison, 38, was one of 18 people arrested in December 2007 as part of Project Drill, a undercover police investigation targeting the Hells Angels and its associates.
Morrison was already in custody at the time of his arrest. That same month he was sentenced to one year in jail after being convicted at trial of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. At that sentencing hearing, Morrison told the court he had severed his ties with his criminal associates and had moved to the country with his girlfriend and young child.
What the court didn’t know was that Morrison was still dealing drugs with an eye to becoming a Hells Angels “prospect.” “There is no question Mr. Morrison lied to the court in order to receive a more lenient sentence,” Crown attorney Pat Flynn said Tuesday. “Were it not for Project Drill we would never have known about it.”
As in similar investigations before and since, Operation Drill relied on the use of a paid agent — in this case, career criminal and biker associate Scott “Taz” Robertson — to ensnare the criminal targets. Morrison negotiated four drug deals with Robertson worth $50,000. The money has not been recovered.
Morrison was sentenced to eight years on the drug charges and an additional six months for obstruction of justice. He received 28 months credit for time served but will serve another year in custody if he does not repay the $50,000.
Morrison claimed he was ashamed of his actions and again promised that his days as a criminal are in the past.
“I don’t ever want to create victims in my life again,” he told Keyser.
Keyser didn’t believe him.
“I think his prospects for rehabilitation, quite frankly, are slim.”
Drug trafficking nets man 8 year term
ALLEN Morrison had two major goals in life -- to join the ranks of the Hells Angels and to bring the purest cocaine to the streets of Winnipeg.
An undercover police sting operation made sure Morrison came up short on both fronts.
Morrison, 38, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to a string of trafficking charges from his December 2007 arrest. Morrison was one of 18 people targeted during "Project Drill", in which a secret agent was paid $625,000 plus expenses to conduct a series of drug deals which were captured by police audio and video surveillance.
Morrison was caught arranging four major cocaine deals in which he sent a lower-level "courier" to meet with the agent at various city locations, including the Polo Park Shopping Centre, Shoppers Drug Mart, Burger King and A&W in which cash and drugs changed hands.
Police also intercepted a phone call in which Morrison pledged to bring better quality cocaine to the city. The agent was complaining about the diluted product he'd been receiving.
"I want it to be very pure to get everyone hooked on crack again," said Morrison.
Morrison was a longtime biker associate, officially deemed a "Hangaround", who was slowly climbing the criminal ladder at the time of his arrest, court was told.
Morrison also pleaded guilty Tuesday to obstruction of justice for his actions at a December 2007 sentencing hearing on drug offences from 2003. At the time, Morrison and his lawyer told court he had walked away from his gang affiliations, moved out of Winnipeg with his wife and children and was looking forward to living a life on the straight and narrow.
In fact, Morrison had just spent the past few months practically begging to be made a full-patch Hells member and deliberately misled the court in an attempt to get a more lenient sentence.
"He made representations through his council he knew to be false," Crown attorney Pat Flynn told court.
Morrison apologized for his actions Tuesday and spoke of a "new way of thinking" which including living crime-free once he is released from prison. A cynical Queen's Bench Justice Brenda Keyser wasn't buying it.
"I have great difficulty believing there's any truth to that," she said. "It's not the first time he has tried to con the court."
Allen Morrison, 38, was one of 18 people targeted during Project Drill, in which a secret agent was paid $625,000 plus expenses to conduct a series of drug deals which were captured by police audio and video surveillance.
Morrison was caught in 2007 arranging four major cocaine deals in which he sent a lower-level "courier" to meet with the agent at various city locations, including Polo Park Shopping Centre, Shoppers Drug Mart, Burger King and A&W in which cash and drugs changed hands.
Morrison was a longtime biker associate, officially deemed a "Hangaround", who was slowly climbing the criminal ladder at the time of his arrest, court was told.
Morrison also pleaded guilty Tuesday to obstruction of justice for his actions at a December 2007 sentencing hearing on drug offences from 2003. At the time, Morrison and his lawyer told court he had walked away from his gang affiliations, moved out of Winnipeg with his wife and children and was looking forward to living a life on the straight and narrow.
In fact, Morrison had just spent the past few months practically begging to be made a full-patch Hells member and deliberately misled the court in an attempt to get a more lenient sentence, court was told.
Morrison apologized for his actions Tuesday and spoke of a "new way of thinking" which including living crime-free once he is released from prison. A cynical Queen’s Bench Justice Brenda Keyser wasn’t buying it.
"I have great difficulty believing there’s any truth to that," she said. "It’s not the first time he has tried to con the court."
Morrison was given single-time credit for 28 months of pre-trial custody, meaning he has six years and two months left to serve. He was also ordered to pay back $50,000 he received in exchange for the drugs he supplied to the agent and will have to spent another year behind bars if he can’t come up with the cash.
Biker pleads guilty
Has longtime biker associate and drug dealer Allen Morrison changed his ways?
A judge who sentenced him to 8.5 years in prison doesn't think so.
Morrison pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and obstruction of justice. The last charge is in connection to Morrison's attempt to mislead the court into believing he was turning his back on a life of crime.
"I have grave doubts Mr. Morrison seriously wants to move in a positive direction," said Justice Brenda Keyser. "It's not the first time he has tried to con the court."
Morrison, 38, was one of 18 people arrested in December 2007 as part of a undercover police investigation targeting the Hells Angels and its associates.
Biker, drug dealer jailed 8.5 years
Has longtime biker associate and drug dealer Allen Morrison changed his ways?
A judge who sentenced him to 81/2 years in prison doesn’t think so.
Morrison pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and obstruction of justice. The last charge is in connection to Morrison’s attempt to mislead the court into believing he was turning his back on a life of crime.
“I have grave doubts Mr. Morrison seriously wants to move in a positive direction,” said Justice Brenda Keyser. “It’s not the first time he has tried to con the court.”
Morrison, 38, was one of 18 people arrested in December 2007 as part of Project Drill, a undercover police investigation targeting the Hells Angels and its associates.
Morrison was already in custody at the time of his arrest. That same month he was sentenced to one year in jail after being convicted at trial of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. At that sentencing hearing, Morrison told the court he had severed his ties with his criminal associates and had moved to the country with his girlfriend and young child.
What the court didn’t know was that Morrison was still dealing drugs with an eye to becoming a Hells Angels “prospect.” “There is no question Mr. Morrison lied to the court in order to receive a more lenient sentence,” Crown attorney Pat Flynn said Tuesday. “Were it not for Project Drill we would never have known about it.”
As in similar investigations before and since, Operation Drill relied on the use of a paid agent — in this case, career criminal and biker associate Scott “Taz” Robertson — to ensnare the criminal targets. Morrison negotiated four drug deals with Robertson worth $50,000. The money has not been recovered.
Morrison was sentenced to eight years on the drug charges and an additional six months for obstruction of justice. He received 28 months credit for time served but will serve another year in custody if he does not repay the $50,000.
Morrison claimed he was ashamed of his actions and again promised that his days as a criminal are in the past.
“I don’t ever want to create victims in my life again,” he told Keyser.
Keyser didn’t believe him.
“I think his prospects for rehabilitation, quite frankly, are slim.”
Drug trafficking nets man 8 year term
ALLEN Morrison had two major goals in life -- to join the ranks of the Hells Angels and to bring the purest cocaine to the streets of Winnipeg.
An undercover police sting operation made sure Morrison came up short on both fronts.
Morrison, 38, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to a string of trafficking charges from his December 2007 arrest. Morrison was one of 18 people targeted during "Project Drill", in which a secret agent was paid $625,000 plus expenses to conduct a series of drug deals which were captured by police audio and video surveillance.
Morrison was caught arranging four major cocaine deals in which he sent a lower-level "courier" to meet with the agent at various city locations, including the Polo Park Shopping Centre, Shoppers Drug Mart, Burger King and A&W in which cash and drugs changed hands.
Police also intercepted a phone call in which Morrison pledged to bring better quality cocaine to the city. The agent was complaining about the diluted product he'd been receiving.
"I want it to be very pure to get everyone hooked on crack again," said Morrison.
Morrison was a longtime biker associate, officially deemed a "Hangaround", who was slowly climbing the criminal ladder at the time of his arrest, court was told.
Morrison also pleaded guilty Tuesday to obstruction of justice for his actions at a December 2007 sentencing hearing on drug offences from 2003. At the time, Morrison and his lawyer told court he had walked away from his gang affiliations, moved out of Winnipeg with his wife and children and was looking forward to living a life on the straight and narrow.
In fact, Morrison had just spent the past few months practically begging to be made a full-patch Hells member and deliberately misled the court in an attempt to get a more lenient sentence.
"He made representations through his council he knew to be false," Crown attorney Pat Flynn told court.
Morrison apologized for his actions Tuesday and spoke of a "new way of thinking" which including living crime-free once he is released from prison. A cynical Queen's Bench Justice Brenda Keyser wasn't buying it.
"I have great difficulty believing there's any truth to that," she said. "It's not the first time he has tried to con the court."
I definitely agree that this man is manipulative and has lied to the court about his actions and behaviour. He participated in cocaine deals (which by the way, are not THAT serious of a crime) and pleaded guilty to it.
I would like to know whether there were any mitigating factors in this case or the background history of this man and his lawyer's arguments.
I feel that 6 years is too harsh of a sentence. Research has proven that longer sentences are no more effective in reducing and deterring crime, than shorter sentences.
I feel that prison should only be meant for the most dangerous, high risk and violent offenders. From this article, I would not classify this man as any of those. Drugs are not that violent of an offence, as there are no victims. He did not harm anybody. If he has drug addiction problems and gang problems, I would suggest a gang desistance program, family counseling, counseling to uncover the root causes of his criminal behaviour, healthy living skills and addictions treatment.
I don't know if a lengthy prison sentence is necessary for this man. I would suggest possibly a year in prison because it was a drug offence and to express denunciation combined with counseling and drug treatment.
No comments:
Post a Comment