Gang boss guilty in drugs trial

The president of the Mongols gang has been found guilty of possessing guns, ammunition and drugs, supplying some of the drugs, and of money laundering by a jury following a major trial.

Jim “JD” Thacker was found guilty on 40 of the 44 charges he faced, including possession of methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy for supply.

All his guilty verdicts were unanimous except one.

The verdicts were among those delivered by a jury in the High Court at Hamilton yesterday afternoon following a three-month-long trial of high-ranking members of the Bay of Plenty gang, who collectively faced 137 charges.

Some of the charges related to a shooting at a rival gang house and retaliation by that gang, the Mongrel Mob, against the Mongols at a house on No 2 Road in Te Puke.

Thacker was found guilty on charges related to the shooting at a Mongrel Mob house in Tauranga, along with his three co-accused. The jury struggled with a unanimous verdict on the retaliatory shoot-out, instead returning with a majority — or 11-1 — verdict on a charge of discharging a firearm that day.

Thacker was on trial with his vice president Hone Ronaki; South Island president Jason Ross, 46; sergeant at arms Leon “the wolf” Huritu, 39; Kelly Petrowski, 28; Matthew Ramsden, 45; Kane Ronaki, 24; Te Reneti Tarau, 26; and a 28-year-old Auckland man with interim name suppression.

After Thacker, Hone Ronaki was found guilty of 26 of his 40 charges, which mostly centred around firearm possession, and drug possession and supply. Huritu was guilty on all but one — unlawful possession of a firearm — of his 12 charges, and the Auckland man with suppression was guilty of 13 of 15 charges, which included possession and supplying methamphetamine and discharging a firearm during the Haukore Street shooting.

Ross was guilty on all four of his charges, mainly for possessing methamp-hetamine for supply, while Ramsden, dubbed the methamphetamine “washer” and “processor” was found guilty on all 12 of his charges and Kane Ronaki was guilty on all of his three charges.

Petrowski was found guilty of four of his five charges, including participating in an organised criminal group.

Tarau was cleared of the only two charges he faced.

Those found guilty were remanded in custody for sentencing in April, with some defence counsel indicating they would apply for bail.