WEST Vancouver gangster Omid Bayani can look forward to seven years in
a federal jail if he makes a public reappearance.
But so far it's unknown whether the UN gang member is on the lam from
the law, or has met with a more sinister fate at the hands of gang
rivals.
Bayani, 36, disappeared in September, just two days before he was to
be sentenced in Ontario for trafficking a massive quantity of the date-
rape drug GHB.
The judge in the case described it as "the largest seizure of GHB in
Canadian history."
At the time Bayani went missing, police said he appeared to be headed
to one of the North Shore gyms he frequented when he left his West
Vancouver home that afternoon. He hasn't been seen since.
If he does show up, however, there will be a spot in a federal jail
cell waiting for him, after an Ontario superior court justice
sentenced him in absentia to spend seven years in jail for his crimes
- an eight-year sentence reduced by one year for time already spent in
custody.
According to facts set out in court documents, in late 2005, Bayani
sold 600 litres of GHB to Mehrdad Bahman, a prospective member of the
Toronto chapter of Hell's Angels.
But before any money changed hands, police in Ontario got wind of the
deal and the location of a garage where Bahman was storing the GHB
through a Hells Angels informant.
Police moved in and seized 350 litres of the drug, making it look like
the garage had been burgled.
After Bayani became angry that he hadn't been paid, Bahman and other
Hells Angels associates flew to Vancouver and met Bayani at Joe Fortes
restaurant to hammer out a deal to repay the debt.
According to the informant, they agreed Bahman would pay Bayani
$80,000.
In handing out the sentence, Justice Robert Clark said the amount
underscores that "the potential profit of this illicit activity is
enormous."
Clark added Bayani, who was born in Iran and is not a Canadian
citizen, had shown no remorse for his actions.
A co-accused in the case, Hells Angels member Vincenzo "Jimmy"
Sansalone, was sentenced to six years for his role in the case, which
included setting up the Vancouver meeting between Bahman and Bayani.
Bayani's lawyer, Joseph Bloomenfeld, told the judge when Bayani didn't
show up to his sentencing hearing that his client may have met with
foul play.
But the judge said since he had no evidence of that, he would have to
assume that Bayani had simply absconded.
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Time to contact your MP and get the HAMC banned as a criminal
organization.