Derek MacPhee gets charges dropped for Jimmy Melvin evidence

Parole documents reveal serious charges againstthe man authorities hope will help them securea murder conviction against notorious gang leader Jimmy Melvin Junior.

On Monday, all current charges against Derek Thomas MacPhee were dropped as part of an immunity agreement.

MacPhee was being held in the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Burnside just prior to the charges being withdrawn. He was jailed in connection to a violent home invasion robbery in Upper Sackville in June. A man, woman and their 13-year-old child were tied up and robbed.

Sources told CBC News that MacPhee was transferred out of the Burnside jail shortly beforeMelvin's arrest on the weekend.

Melvin has been charged with first-degree murder in the 2009 death of Terry Marriott Junior. Melvin is being held in the Burnside jail, awaiting his next court appearance in September.

Prior to the home invasion, MacPheeracked up three federal prison sentences and a slew of charges.

He was released to a halfway house in 2013 after serving part of a five-year sentence for weapons offences. He shot a man four times in the leg at close range. The shooting was revenge for an earlier assault.

"According to police," the Parole Board noted, "your offence is the result of your involvement in a feud described as a dangerous cycle of violence involving two major gangs, and that this feud is ongoing."

The Melvin and Marriott gangs engaged in a protracted battle for control of the Halifax drug trade. The war included drive-by shootings and firebombings.

Firebomb hit mother and infant's home

According to parole documents, MacPhee took part in at least one of those firebombings, throwing flaming beer bottles full of gasoline at a house.

"One of the bottles hit the next door neighbour where a young mother and her infant child were sleeping," the Parole Board wrote. "Luckily, they were able to get out of the residence in time."

A psychiatric assessment authorities did on MacPhee in 2012 described his risk of recidivism as high.

The Parole Board also noted a previous assault conviction against MacPhee.

"The assault was perpetrated against a female and involved grabbing her by the throat and throwing her to the ground without provocation."

The board found while he was in prison, MacPhee was involved in tobacco smuggling and debt collection.