B.C. gangster Jamie Bacon, mastermind of Surrey Six killings, released from prison

Jamie Bacon, who police say is a notorious gang member, is handcuffed outside his home in Abbotsford, B.C., Friday, April 3, 2009(John Van Putten/The Abbotsford News).

The notorious gangster who orchestrated the Surrey Six killings in 2007 has been released from prison less than six years after he pleaded guilty in the case.

Jamie Bacon finished his federal prison sentence and was released with conditions and a curfew, according to British Columbia’s anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.

“He will be monitored by Corrections Services of Canada and we are in close contact with them to monitor any future movements,” said CFSEU-BC spokesperson Sgt. Sarbjit Sangha in an emailed statement Wednesday.

The correctional service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bacon’s release. This story will be updated when a response is received.

Bacon was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty in September 2020 to one count of conspiracy to murder Corey Lal in the Surrey Six case. With credit for time served in custody while he was awaiting trial, his remaining sentence amounted to five years and seven months behind bars.

Bacon, then 35 years old, also pleaded guilty to one count of counselling to commit murder in a separate case involving the shooting of a man who survived an attack on Dec. 31, 2008. Bacon’s conviction in that case earned him a 10-year sentence to be served concurrent to the Surrey Six prison term.

Four of the murder victims in the Surrey Six case were targeted in the attack at a highrise condo building, while two others were innocent bystanders.

Police said Christopher Mohan, 22, who lived on the floor where the killings occurred, and Ed Schellenberg, 55, a maintenance worker, were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The other victims were Lal, Lal’s brother Michael, Edward Narong and Ryan Bartolomeo.

The sentencing judge described the murders as “shocking and depraved,” while an agreed statement of facts in the case described how the killings were carried out to advance the drug-trafficking business of the Red Scorpions gang.

The Red Scorpions formed when Bacon and another gang leader amalgamated and sought to expand their market using violence and intimidation to force others to surrender their drug lines, the Crown prosecution argued.

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With files from The Canadian Press