Bacon brothers out of jail: Bail set at $175,000 each

Two of the three infamous Bacon brothers have been sprung from jail and may return to their home community of Abbotsford.

Jamie Bacon, 22, and 25-year-old Jarrod were granted bail in Surrey provincial court Thursday.

The pair face 24 weapons charges stemming from two separate RCMP investigations, in Surrey and Langley, into firearms.

Bail for each of the brothers was set at $175,000.

They have been in custody since their arrest at the end of May.

The remainder of the bail conditions were not available before the Abbotsford News press deadline.

After the two brothers were arrested, the Integrated Gang Task Force (IGTF) issued an unprecedented public warning.

IGTF spokesman Sgt. Shinder Kirk released a statement warning the public, friends, family and associates of the Bacon family of a murder plot against the brothers and that “association with these individuals may place them in a position of jeopardy.”

Kirk contends the warning stands.

“The threat is still active and still a concern for us,” he said.

Even casual contact with the Bacon brothers in places like pubs and grocery stores may carry some risk, he said.

“We know that in this current environment of gang activity there is the propensity to use firearms in public places.”

He said people should minimize their association with the bothers for the foreseeable future.

The eldest Bacon brother, 27-year-old Jonathan, has already survived one gang hit.

He was shot multiple times after being ambushed outside the family’s Abbotsford home in September 2006.

The decision to grant the two younger brothers bail follows the recent dismissal of drug and gun charges against Jonathan in Abbotsford provincial court June 6.

Judge Donald Gardner dismissed all charges against Jonathan, and co-accused Godwin Cheng and Rayleene Burton, saying the police search of a vehicle and subsequent search of a Winfield Drive home were unjustified.

The trio were arrested in August 2005 after police busted a home in the 2000 block of Winfield Drive and seized 40 pounds of marijuana, crack cocaine, and ecstasy, along with two prohibited machine pistols, two handguns, silencers, a bullet-proof vest and nearly $100,000 in cash.

Federal prosecutors have launched an appeal of the decision.

Bob Prior, regional director of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, said the case may make its way into the B.C. Court of Appeals this winter.

Crown prosecutors are still awaiting Gardner’s written decision, Prior said.

However, the plan is to argue the trial judge made a legal error in determining the police had no grounds to initially arrest the suspects.