Kenneth Wagner Niagara Hells Angel sentenced to 11 years in jail

Kenneth Wagner Niagara Hells Angel sentenced to 11 years in jail is the first in Ontario to be convicted of directing others to act for a criminal organization. Kenneth Wagner the second in command man in the Niagara chapter was handed the sentence in a Toronto courtroom. “This is a message for those bikers and those who subscribe to that subculture that it will not pay,” federal prosecutor Tom Andreopoulos said in a telephone interview after court. Wagner, 43, pleaded not guilty to the criminal organization charge but was convicted last week by Judge John McMahon. The sentence also includes charges of trafficking cocaine and having $150,675 in proceeds of crime, which Wagner pleaded guilty to on Sept. 9.
Andreopoulos said Wagner was like the “quarterback” of the Niagara chapter. Wagner bossed others around while insulating himself from the actual drug and weapon dealings because he was an executive, Andreopoulos said. Police and prosecutors say Gerald (Skinny) Ward was the No. 1 man in the Niagara chapter. The pair were among 15 Hells Angels swept up in a provincewide crackdown on the motorcycle gang and its associates in September 2006. Project Tandem, run by the joint forces Ontario Biker Enforcement Unit, arrested 24 people and seized $3 million in drugs. When police searched Wagner’s Port Colborne home, they found internal police documents, cash and a bulletproof vest. Last week, McMahon ruled the Hells Angels, including the Niagara chapter located in Welland, is a criminal organization.Wagner, a single father of two adult children who has been in custody since his arrest two years ago, remains a member of the club, but told the court he is hoping to retire. The Crown had argued Wagner serve an additional 10 years, while the defence requested he serve an extra three. Andreopoulos said Tuesday Wagner will serve an additional six years and eight months. The judge credited him with four years and four months of pre-trial custody.
Andreopoulos said the judge thoroughly analyzed Wagner’s circumstances and took into account the fact he has no previous criminal record. Wagner has agreed to forfeit the cash, his truck, motorcycle and house on Highway 3, which has no equity. Wagner’s lawyer, Andras Schreck, said by phone Wagner will be eligible for parole after serving a third of his sentence. The judge rejected the Crown’s request that he serve half the sentence prior to parole eligibility. “I think he recognized there was genuine remorse on the part of Mr. Wagner,” Schreck said. He added the judge also found Wagner wasn’t the driving force behind the transactions — instead, it was Ward. Wagner was found guilty Sept. 30 of instructing four people to traffic drugs and a firearm in association with a criminal organization. The charge was based on five transactions in Niagara in which Wagner directed others to deliver four kilograms of cocaine and a gun to a police informant. Court records showed they traded most of the goods in the parking lots of a Fenwick motorcycle shop and the Seaway Mall in Welland. Ward’s case is still before the courts. He pleaded not guilty last month to the charge of directing others, including Wagner, to commit crimes as part of a criminal organization. The charge can carry a life sentence.
Judgment on that issue is scheduled for Nov. 21. Ward also faces sentencing after pleading guilty to trafficking cocaine four times between May 2005 and Sept. 2006 and unlawfully possessing $304,430 in proceeds of crime.