Jamie Bacon, one of B.C.'s most notorious gangsters, was sentenced Friday to seven years behind bars for 10 gun convictions after he opened fire on rival hitmen sent to execute him.
In her decision, Surrey provincial court Judge Jean Lytwyn wrote that the sentence "reflects the gravity of the offences and the many aggravating factors."
The jail term was reduced to three years and eight months because of the double credit given for 20 months served in pretrial custody.
Jamie, now 25, and his older brother Jarrod were arrested outside their family home in April 2007 after rivals shot up their house and cars. Their brother Jonathan, Jamie's girlfriend and the brothers' parents were all inside the home at the time.
Two gunmen opened fire as the brothers stepped out of Jarrod's Corvette, hitting the muscle car with five 45-calibre bullets and the garage door with seven.
Jamie was struck once in the back between the shoulder blades. The bullet would likely have crippled or even killed him, but he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Jamie returned fire on the men with a Glock handgun, getting off at least four shots.
The two Bacons were warned by police just one month earlier that a contract had been taken out on their lives.
"Mr. Bacon chose to act outside the law rather than seek police protection," Lytwyn said.
Investigators later uncovered the Glock used in the shooting inside a secret compartment underneath the cup holder in the centre console of a Chevrolet Suburban SUV parked in the family's garage.
Police also found three more restricted semi-automatic handguns -- all loaded -- and nine magazines inside the hiding place.
"Having loaded firearms in the sophisticated secret compartment made the Suburban a mobile gun locker," Lytwyn wrote.
Jamie was convicted on the gun charges in May. His brother Jarrod was exonerated, but is charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine in a separate case.
Crown prosecutors had asked for a sentence of between 10 and 12 years, while defence argued for a much shorter jail term of three to five years.
The judge conceded that Bacon might be entitled to a short sentence, but she wrote that attention should be paid to growing public concern about gang-related violence.
"I should not be blind to the increased community concerns about the escalating number of targeted shootings and firearms in the Lower Mainland," Lytwyn wrote.
More charges
Jamie is also charged with one count of first-degree murder in connection with the Surrey Six massacre, the worst instance of gang violence in British Columbia's history. The incident saw six people, including innocent bystanders Chris Mohan and fireplace repairman Ed Schellenberg, gunned down in a Surrey high-rise.
In June, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that Jamie's charter rights have been violated during his time in solitary confinement at the Surrey Pretrial Centre, where he had been housed since his April 2009 arrest on the murder charge.
Justice Mark McEwan wrote that he had been kept in conditions that "would be deplorable in any civilized society."
Jonathon Bacon, 28, is still awaiting trial for separate drug and weapons charges.
The three brothers have been tied to the Red Scorpions gang, described by police as one of the most active -- and violent -- criminal organizations in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
