Gang leader to be sentenced in Surrey Six case

A judge is scheduled to sentence a gang leader today on a charge related to shootings in 2007 that left six people dead at a highrise apartment building in Surrey, B.C.

Jamie Bacon pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to murder Corey Lal in the so-called Surrey Six case.

The 35-year-old man also pleaded guilty to one count of counselling to commit murder in a separate case involving the shooting of a man who survived an attack on Dec. 31, 2008.

Crown and defence lawyers submitted a joint sentencing recommendation to Justice Kathleen Ker of the B.C. Supreme Court that includes 18 years for conspiracy to murder and 10 years for counselling to commit murder to be served concurrently.

Bacon's lawyer has said if the sentencing submission is accepted, his client is looking at an additional five to six years in prison after time served is taken into account.

Last month, court heard in an agreed statement of facts at Bacon's sentencing hearing that the killings were carried out to advance the drug trafficking business of a criminal gang known as the Red Scorpions.

The Red Scorpions formed when Bacon and another gang leader amalgamated and sought to expand their market using violence and intimidation to force others to surrender their drug lines, Crown attorney Mark Wolf said.

Bacon took offence when he heard that Lal had told one of his associates that he should work for Lal instead, Wolf said.

He met with Lal and others at a McDonald's restaurant, where he berated and threatened Lal, telling him he owed Bacon a $100,000 tax by the same night.

"Bacon told Lal that if he did not pay he would have to be prepared to deal with the consequences, namely, that Lal would be killed," Wolf told the court on Aug. 28.

Wolf said the murders were committed at the direction of Bacon and another gang leader.

Four of the victims were targeted but two men were innocent bystanders.

Police said Christopher Mohan, 22, who lived on the floor where the killings occurred, and Ed Schellenberg, 55, a maintenance worker, were in the wrong place at the wrong time.