Alleged UN gang members plotted Bacon brothers' murders

Five alleged members and associatesof the United Nations gang have pleaded guilty in B.C. Supreme Court to conspiring to killthe notorious Bacon brothers, their allegedrivals in the Red Scorpions gang.

The five menBarzan Tilli-Cholli, Yong Sung John Lee, Dilun Heng, Karwan Ahmet Saed and Ion Kroitoru admitted to conspiring to killbrothers Jamie, Jonathan and Jarrod Bacon and their associatesin 2008 and 2009, at the height ofthe gang war in Metro Vancouver and theFraser Valley.

Reporters and spectators packed into the Vancouver courtroom gallery on Monday, and the five accused appearedconfident, one even jovial, as they took their places behind bulletproof glass.

The guilty pleas for the five accused took about five minutes to enter. The sentencing hearingis expected to take place over the next two days.

Few details surrounding the crimes were given, other than that the Crown and defence lawyers have put together an agreed statement of facts about the conspiracy to murder the Bacon brothers, who led the Red Scorpions gang.

Jonathan Bacon died two years ago after being shotin Kelowna.

Jarrod andJamieBacon are currentlyboth in jail.

Jarrod is serving a 12-year sentence for conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

Jamie is serving time in a federal facility on a weapons conviction and is also awaiting trial on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the so-called "Surrey Six" slayings in October 2007, a separate case that resulted in the deaths of two innocent bystanders.

• Bacon shooting sparks gang retaliation fears
• Jarrod Bacon gets 12 years on cocaine charge
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An application to impose a publication ban on the identities of unindicted co-conspirators in the plot against the Red Scorpions may mean few details will be released to the public.

Murder charge stayed

With their plea, the Crown stayed charges of murder and attempted murder against the five in the fatal shooting of Jonathan Barber, a stereo installer with no connection to gangs or organized crime.

• Father of Jonathan Barber dismayed at pleas
• Read more: Innocent man killed in botched shooting

Barber was killed in May 2008 in a case of mistaken identity, while reportedly driving a Porscheowned by Jamie Bacon along a street in Burnaby.

Someone fired shots into the vehicle killing Barber. Hisgirlfriend, who was following in another vehicle,was injured by automatic gunfire.

Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie would not elaborate on the decision to stay the more serious murder and attempted murder charges, saying only that the evidence did not support the charges.

"The evidence that will be put forward in the proceeding does not establish that any of these accused were directly involved in the death of Mr. Barber, or the attempted murder of (Barber's girlfriend) Ms. King," MacKenzie said.

Earlier this year, another UN gang member, Daniel Russell, pleaded guilty to the same murder conspiracy charge against the Baconsand was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

• UN gangster to serve 4 years of 12-year sentence

Russell also admitted to manslaughter for his part in the death of Barber.

2 more wanted by police

The Lower Mainland's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says it is still seeking at least two more suspects inthe conspiracy plot against the Bacon brothers and their Red Scorpions associates.

Cory "Frankie" Vallee and Conor Vincent D'Monte,alleged members of the UN gang, have both been wanted on Canada-wide warrants since being charged in January 2011.

Both are wantedfor the conspiracy against the Bacons, and for the slaying of rival gang member Kevin LeClair, who died after being shot outside a mall in Langley in 2009.

Vallee was also charged in the killing of Jonathan Barber.

Police say that Vallee, known to frequent Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and the Hamiltonarea, grew up in Florida and may still have connections there.

D'Monte,known to frequent Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, is also known to travel to Spain and Asia.

Both men are associatedwith drug networks in Mexico, have violent histories and are known to carry firearms, police say.

• Read more: Victim of Langley mall shooting dies