A UN gangster was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this week to manslaughter in the death of Jonathan Barber of Langley and to conspiring to kill the Bacon brothers and their associates.
Dan Russell, whom police have said was a high-ranking member of the UN Gang, was given almost eight years’ credit for the time he has already served.
Russell was among nine people charged in January 2011 with plotting to kill the Bacon brothers – Jonathan, Jarrod and Jamie – who were living in Abbotsford at the time of the conspiracy.
During that period, the Abbotsford Police Department issued a public warning that anyone associating with the Bacons was putting their life at risk.
On Jan. 20, 2009, Jamie Bacon survived a brazen daytime shooting in the busy intersection of South Fraser Way and Sumas Way.
Prior to that – in May 2008 – stereo installer Jonathan Barber, 23, was the innocent victim of a drive-by shooting that occurred in Burnaby.
At the time, Barber was driving a Porsche Cayenne SUV owned by the Bacons to have a stereo system equipped.
His girlfriend, who was traveling behind him, was wounded when shots were also fired at her vehicle.
Of the nine men charged in January 2011, six of them, in addition to Russell, were charged with Barber’s murder and the attempted murder of his girlfriend.
Their charges are still before the courts.
Two of the nine men – Conor D’Monte, described as the leader of the UN Gang at the time, and Cory “Frankie” Vallee – were also charged with the murder of Kevin LeClair of Abbotsford.
The pair have been at large ever since.
LeClair died in a hail of gunfire while in his vehicle outside an IGA store in Walnut Grove in February 2009.
Russell’s criminal history includes charges and/or convictions in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Maple Ridge, Mission and Vancouver.
