Pubdate: Tue, 08 Nov 2005 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Copyright: 2005, The Globe and Mail Company Contact: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 Author: Colin Freeze Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) BIKER DRUG DEALER HANDED 4 YEARS VANCOUVER -- A Hells Angels drug dealer presented a judge with a note from his mom yesterday as he asked for -- and received -- a lenient sentence. Norman Krogstad, who has pleaded guilty to dealing nearly half a million dollars worth of cocaine, gave the B.C. Supreme Court a letter from his 86-year-old mother during his sentencing hearing. She attested that despite his reputation as a Hells Angels ringleader, Mr. Krogstad was also a good son who visited her frequently. Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm sentenced the 58-year-old grey-haired man, who wore a black suit, red poppy and trimmed beard, to the four years recommended by Crown and defence lawyers. The judge recommended that the time be served in a minimum-security prison in the Fraser Valley to help Mr. Krogstad keep in touch with his family. The biker's mother, daughter, sister, and wife attended court yesterday. They had provided the judge with statements asserting that the full-patch Hells Angels member is a kind, generous and "very giving" family man. Because he is a non-violent offender with no previous criminal record, Mr. Krogstad is likely to be paroled after serving as little as one-sixth of his sentence. His business partner, Hells Angel Cedric Smith, also received a four-year sentence for dealing drugs. In addition, Mr. Smith was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine, which court heard will be mostly taken care of with the thick stacks of bills police seized from his house in Langley. As a result of the guilty plea, some other charges the men faced were dropped, including ones that involved a co-accused biker found slain this spring. RCMP Corporal Glenn Atkins, an investigator who attended court yesterday, said the sentences were the toughest the law allows. It's unlikely they will affect British Columbia's brisk drug trade, he added. Still, Cpl. Atkins said the Mounties take some satisfaction in securing convictions against two Hells Angels. He said the RCMP in British Columbia spent perhaps $2-million on laying charges against 10 Hells Angels arrested last year during an investigation that involved months of surveillance, wiretaps and arranged drug purchases. Guilty pleas have been secured in most cases so far, but the legal victories have also had a downside: The pleas have effectively pre-empted trials that would have offered the public a window into the enterprises of the Hells Angels. Although the group has long said it is simply a network of motorcycle enthusiasts, the gang is routinely flagged by Canadian law-enforcement agencies as the biggest, most organized criminal group in the country. Convictions have been rare, however. This year, police in Ontario successfully brought gangsterism charges against two Ontario Hells Angels involved in an extortion racket. The decision, which designated the group as an aggressive and constantly expanding drug-dealing network, meant stiffer-than-usual sentences. Cpl. Atkins said it took the Crown in Ontario three years to put together its organized-crime case, while B.C. authorities couldn't hope to meet the same stringent standard of proof in their investigation. But in reading a statement of facts to the court, Crown prosecutor Martha Devlin gave a blow-by-blow account of how Mr. Krogstad and Mr. Smith sold kilograms of cocaine wrapped in duct tape to a police agent. The RCMP had persuaded an unidentified member of an affiliated biker gang in Prince George to work for them. The Mounties gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy drugs. Over the course of a year and a half, the agent, now in a witness-protection program, bought about 10 kilograms of cocaine. Ms. Devlin told the court that the agent primarily bought through Mr. Smith, whom he would page with "666" -- a prearranged signal to meet at a Wendy's restaurant. Initially the going rate for a kilogram of cocaine was $40,000 but the agent moved the price close to $30,000 after getting an undertaking from Mr. Krogstad to get the price reduced, Ms. Devlin told the court. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin