VANCOUVER — A British Columbia gang leader has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder three members of a rival gang more than 15 years ago.
B.C. prosecutors confirm that Conor D’Monte, who escaped to Puerto Rico for 11 years before being arrested in 2022, entered the plea to the single count on Tuesday.
Police have said D’Monte was a high-ranking member of the United Nations gang.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder brothers Jonathan, James and Jarrod Bacon, leaders of the rival Red Scorpions.
A statement from the province’s gang squad, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, says between 2008 and 2009, the province endured one of its most violent periods involving organized crime as the Red Scorpions and United Nations gangs engaged in deadly shootings and public gun battles across the Lower Mainland.
“Through years of co-ordinated investigation and intelligence-sharing efforts, (police agencies) worked in close collaboration, leading to 18 arrests and 12 convictions of UN gang members and associates,” the statement said.
“Among those charged was Conor D’Monte, who was accused of conspiring to murder the three Bacon brothers as part of a violent gang conflict that claimed numerous lives across the region.”
The statement said the plea is a “pivotal moment” in the lengthy case.
D’Monte was also charged with first-degree murder for the 2009 killing of Kevin Leclair, another member of the Red Scorpions gang, who was shot at a Vancouver strip mall.
The BC Prosecution Service says that charge remains “alive” for now, until a sentencing hearing on the conspiracy plea.
The case has been adjourned to Nov. 12 to schedule a date for the sentencing hearing.
The gang squad has said D’Monte was one of Canada’s most wanted fugitives and it worked with its police partners around the world to find him.
People in Puerto Rico knew D’Monte as a charismatic organizer of charitable drives to buy Christmas gifts for needy children and to renovate an elementary school.
D’Monte also worked for a non-profit group called the Karma Honey Project.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2025.
The Canadian Press
