Hells Angels

A Canadian hit man whose victims included outlaw bikers, mobsters and bystanders pleaded guilty to 27 charges of first-degree murder, making him one of Canada's worst killers. Gerald Gallant, who has become a police informant while serving a life sentence for a 2001 slaying, also pleaded guilty to 12 charges of attempted murder and several other charges. The killings between 1978 and 2003 targeted members of motorcycle gangs, mobsters and members of street gangs. Biker gangs have long been a problem in the French-speaking province of Quebec, and most of the killings occurred between 1994 and 2002 as the Hells Angels and Rock Machine gangs battled over drug sales.

Five members of a Christian motorcycle gang were charged Friday with a variety of felony weapons and gang crimes after high-profile raids this week targeting the Anaheim-based group. The charges marked a retreat from Wednesday, when authorities arrested seven members of the Set Free Soldiers, including founder and pastor Phillip Aguilar, on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. An eighth member was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

New charges were filed Monday against Hells Angels members in connection with a double stabbing during a bar fight with a Christian motorcycle gang late last month, Newport Beach police said. Scott Guinn, 23, was charged with possession of a controlled substance. Brian Heslington, 35, was charged with possession of cocaine and a loaded firearm, and Rodrigo Requejo, 34, was charged with assault and battery.

A chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in the Netherlands is not a criminal organization, judges ruled in rejecting prosecutors' attempts to have the group outlawed. The decision is a major setback for efforts by the public prosecutor's office to have Hells Angels clubs banned nationwide amid allegations that they are heavily involved in organized crime. The Harlingen Hells Angels chapter was the first prosecutors tried to have outlawed.

The former leader of the Spokane chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang was sentenced Monday to 7 1/2 years in prison for racketeering. Richard "Smilin' Rick" Fabel, 50, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik to pay nearly $55,000 in restitution and stay away from other Hells Angels for at least a year.

A federal grand jury indicted five current and former members of the Hells Angels biker gang on racketeering charges, saying the group's leader in Washington state ordered associates to commit murder and various other crimes, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Defense lawyers asked jurors to doubt the word of government informants and former Hells Angels who are expected to testify that the motorcycle club is a criminal ring that plotted a fatal casino brawl against a rival gang in 2002. Defense lawyers for 11 Hells Angels being tried on federal charges for a brawl that left three people dead said in opening statements that the Hells Angels defended themselves after being attacked by rival Mongols at the Harrah's Laughlin hotel-casino.

A platinum-palladium print of Penn's image will be included in the fall auction preview at Christie's Beverly Hills Oct. 3-6. * Conde Nast, the parent company of Vogue, still provides a full-time studio for Irving Penn because the fashion magazine publishes new work by him regularly. Now approaching his 90th birthday, Penn has photographed for Vogue continuously since 1943. This longevity is the result of an equilibrium Penn has maintained throughout his career.

A federal racketeering trial against 11 Hells Angels members came to a sudden end in Las Vegas when six defendants in a deadly casino brawl pleaded guilty to reduced charges that fell short of government claims their motorcycle club was an ongoing criminal racket. U.S. District Judge James Mahan accepted guilty pleas from four Hells Angels and no-contest pleas from two others to federal charges of committing a violent crime, battery, in aid of racketeering.

The civil rights of Hells Angels members were violated when authorities searched their homes and seized their property, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week. The Hells Angels contended that during a 1997 murder investigation, police seized motorcycles and killed three dogs.