London HAMC President Faces Charges Loss Of Liquor License

[Greg Carr]

London men arrested in gambling raid


Cops boast big coup



A high-ranking member of the London Hells Angels whose clean record
has kept his strip club operating is facing charges in an multi-
million dollar illegal gambling ring.

Rob Barletta, 43, joins three other London men charged in connection
with the bust of Internet-based Platinum Sports Book.

Two of them — Andrew Bielli, 49, and David Hair, 45 — were charged in
early February after about 400 officers swooped down on a Superbowl
party in Markham and shut down the site.

Barletta and a fourth, Christopher Rutledge, 36, were charged this
week in a second set of arrests by the province’s Combined Forces
Special Enforcement Unit, which includes the RCMP, OPP and several
Toronto-area police forces.

All four face charges of committing a crime for a criminal
organization and bookmaking.

Bielli and Hair faces charges for failing to comply with the orders
that set them free without bail after the first arrest.

Bielli has been charged with possessing the proceeds of crime, and
Hair with possession of property obtained by crime.

Rob Barletta is the former president of the London Hells Angels and
his club, Famous Flesh Gordon’s, is the subject of a potentially
precedent-setting liquor licensing hearing.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario’s (AGCO) registrar wants
to pull Barletta’s liquor licence because of his connections with the
Hells Angels and has taken the battle to the Ontario Court of Appeal,
the province’s highest court.

Ontario’s liquor law bans anyone from owning a licence if their “past
or present conduct” suggests they won’t carry on business with
“integrity and honesty.”

A victory for the AGCO could allow the province to go after the
licences of other businesses owned by members of the Hells Angels.

But the AGCO has failed to make its case in two earlier hearings,
largely because Barletta has no criminal record.

A spokesperson for the AGCO couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
The AGCO is still waiting to see if its appeal of the earlier rulings
will be upheld by the appeal court.

The illegal Internet gambling site provided the Hells Angels and their
partners in traditional organized crime groups with millions of
dollars, police said. Those millions fueled other crimes, such as
human and drug trafficking, and anyone who ran out of credit with the
gambling site operators faced violence and extortion, police said.

The arrests of six people in February, including two Londoners and
another former head of the London Hells Angels, was just the first
part of the police operation.

Those six were let go without bail, allowing police to see if the
operations would continue and other managers could be arrested.

Oficers from the OPP, RCMP, Toronto area and London police swooped
down on 10 locations Tuesday, including several in London. Records
list the resident of one house as as a member of the Barletta family.

Police contend millions were bet through the Costa Rica-based Platinum
Sports Book website, which was run through a call centre in the U.S.
by Ontario suspects.

randy.r...@sunmedia.ca

THIS WEEK’S BUST:

13: Search warrants at 10 locations, including London, Barrie and GTA

3: London residences searched

$1.6M: Seizures in cash and vehicles

19: People charged for committing crime for, or participating in
criminal organization, bookmaking and other offences

Londoners charged: Rob Barletta, 43, Christopher Rutledge, 36.

Others arrested from Barrie, Toronto and Toronto area

FEBRUARY BUST

$2.5M: seized.

20: Computers confiscated

6: People charged.

Londoners charged: Andrew Bielli, 49, and David Hair, 45.

London connection: Also charged, William “Bill” Miller, 49, of
Toronto, former head of London Hells Angels.
http://www.lfpress.com/2013/03/06/former-president-of-london-hells-angels-chapter-arrested-in-illegal-gambling-crackdown