Wannabe hit men miss mark, get jail

Jammed gun prevents shooting of Hells Angel in Vancouver airport

Two Hamilton men are heading to prison after Vancouver courts heard they took a Greyhound bus to Vancouver with the goal of becoming underworld hit men.

Knowah Truth Ferguson, 21, attempted to carry out a murder while dressed in a loosefitting clothing style sometimes worn by Muslim women, carrying his pistol in a purse.

Ferguson pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Hells Angel Damion Ryan and a second man who was not identified in court.

His associate Gino Gavin McCall, also of Hamilton, pleaded guilty in a separate trial to one count of conspiracy to commit the murder of an “unknown” person between April 11, 2015 and June15, 2015. Ferguson had just turned 18 at the time of the offences, while McCall was 30.

Ferguson was sentenced this week to 6 1⁄2 years custody, with credit given for pretrial custody. McCall was sentenced to seven years custody. The name of whoever hired the hit team has not been made public.

Crown attorney Mike Barrenger told court the men travelled together to work as professional killers for a group connected to the United Nations Gang. That gang was fighting with “The Wolf Pack,” an association of some Hells Angels and members of the Independent Soldiers and Red Soldiers gangs of B.C., the prosecutor said.

The attempt on Ryan’s life occurred in April 2015 at the airport food court. Barrenger said Ferguson’s gun jammed when he pulled the trigger . A video played in court showed Ferguson and Ryan bolting from the food court, along with Thomas Duong, who had set up Ryan for the murder, according to a Crown witness in the case who was identified only as Witness X.

Witness X, also from Hamilton, accompanied Ferguson and McCall on their trip to Vancouver. Duong was sentenced to 12 years in prison earlier this year for attempted murder in another gang-related case.

B.C. Supreme Court issued a publication ban on the identity of Ferguson and McCall’s second proposed victim, targeted for murder in June 2015. In that case, the hit squad drove around Richmond, B.C., looking for the man, but could not locate him.

Police pulled over and arrested Ferguson and McCall because they were travelling in a stolen car.

Police found three pistols, an AK-47 automatic rifle and a silencer in the stolen car when it was pulled over.

According to the prosecution, Ferguson got two pistols and a silencerfor the first murder attempt, and an automatic rifle and three semi-automatic handguns for the second.