CBC News: the fifth estate - Crime Pays

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Aired October 11,
2006 at 9pm
on CBC-TV
& October 13, 2006
at 10pm ET
on CBC Newsworld

JOHN BRYCE

John Bryce is a collector of motorcycles and antique cars.

John Bryce, the fifth six-year-old president of the east-end chapter of the Hells Angels, has balls. After all, his hobby is driving nitro racing bikes, virtually rockets on wheels, surpassing 200 miles an hour in under six seconds and whose engines are known for occasionally blowing up and prone to crashing.

On the other hand, this is an expensive hobby and Bryce – whose wealth remains unknown – clearly has the cash to fund a racing team season after season.

Founding member east-end Vancouver Hell's Angels

The east-end chapter of the Hells Angels was founded in the early '80s and Bryce was one of its original members. The growth of the Hells Angels on the west coast, where they remain one of the most significant organized crime groups in the province, is partially due to his astute management. His chapter is currently considered one of the richest in North America.

Bryce is a very down-to-earth and amiable fellow who does not display the usual hounds-from-hell, sweaty and hairy image of the Hells Angels. He runs a bike store in Burnaby called Hi-way Choppers. He also owns four homes in one block North Vancouver and another house in Maple Ridge. Bryce's own spacious home sits on top of a spectacular hill in Burnaby that overlooks the entire Vancouver area. He owns several motorbikes and several classic cars.

The east-end clubhouse is an unassuming middle class house in a Burnaby neighborhood, surrounded by a high fence. And yet its members are renowned for owning numerous legitimate businesses, from supermarkets, cafes, bike and leather shops, and in the past, on-line gambling and porn websites.

Bryce talks to the fifth estate's Bob McKeown and claims he has done nothing illegal.

Never charged or convicted of a crime

While Bryce has never been charged or convicted of any criminal activity, his own relatives have not been so lucky. His half brother Lloyd "Louie" Robinson, (they share the same mother) is Bryce's right-hand man and the real muscle in the chapter. He owns a $1.3-million house in a fashionable Vancouver neighborhood.

However, in 1989, he was arrested and charged with beating the owner of nightclub to death – although the charges were later stayed for lack of evidence. Robinson also was involved in companies that were into on-line gambling and porn.

Finally, Bryce's 24 year-old son Jonathan pled guilty in September, 2006 to charges of extortion and cocaine dealing. Meanwhile, numerous members of the chapter have been arrested and even convicted for a multitude of crimes, ranging from extortion, drug-dealing and attempted murder.

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