Man at centre of bloody B.C. gang war sentenced to 25 years in prison
Police say Cory Vallee played a major role in Lower Mainland's 2008-2009 gang feud
The man police say played a pivotal role in the 2008-2009 bloody gang war in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, and who eluded authorities for years, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison with no parole.
In 2011, Cory Vallee, whose nickname is Frankie, was charged in absentia with two counts of first-degree murder, one of attempted murder and one of conspiracy to commit murder.
In June, Vallee was found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder.
The B.C. Prosecution Service said on Saturday that in addition to the life sentence for first-degree murder, Vallee also received a life sentence with no parole for 10 years on the conspiracy count. It will run at the same time as the other sentence.
Vallee was accused of being part of the United Nations gang plot against rival organized crime group the Red Scorpions, led by the notorious Bacon brothers.
In 2008, 24-year-old Jonathan Barber was gunned down in Burnaby, in what police say was a case of mistaken identity. Barber was installing a stereo in a car that was owned by one of the Bacon brothers.
The following year, Red Scorpion member Kevin LeClair was gunned down outside a grocery store in Langley.
Vallee was also accused of being part of a United Nations gang plot to kill Jonathan, Jarrod and Jamie Bacon.
Jonathan Bacon was shot dead outside the Delta Grand Hotel in Kelowna on Aug. 14, 2011.
In 2013, four members of the UN gang were sentenced to 11 to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to murder the three Bacon brothers and other Red Scorpion gang members.
But it took until 2014 for police to catch up with Vallee, now in his 40s. He was arrested in Guadalajara, Mexico and transported back to B.C.