Gangster pleads guilty for conspiring to kill Bacon brothers

A prominent member of the United Nations gang has pleaded guilty to conspiring to murder the Bacon brothers, who headed a rival gang.

Daniel Russell also pleaded guilty in B.C. Supreme Court for manslaughter in the 2008 shooting of Jonathan Barber.

The 32-year-old has been awaiting trial since being arrested four years ago.

Russell admitted he conspired with others to kill Jonathan, James and Jarrod Bacon, and other Red Scorpion gang associates.

The United Nations and Red Scorpions had been feuding in a struggle to control a lucrative but shrinking supply of illegal drugs coming into Canada from the U.S.

Russell entered the guilty plea for the shooting death of Barber, a stereo installer who was shot to death while driving a Porsche Cayenne owned by one the Bacon brothers.

The 23-year-old was driving the car on Kingsway in Burnaby to have a custom stereo installed in the vehicle when it was hit with a hail of bullets.

He lost control and the SUV crashed into a furniture store. His 17-year-old girlfriend, who was driving behind him in a separate vehicle, was injured but survived.

At a press conference after his murder, members of the RCMP Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said Barber had no idea he was in danger, and described him as an innocent man caught up in the crossfire of a gang war.

“Jonathan Barber was not involved in criminal activity on the night that he was executed. He was simply doing what he did best, and that was installing stereos," Insp. Bill Fordy told CTV News.

Just months before, police warned against anyone appearing in public with any of the Bacon brothers, because it was likely they’d be targeted by violence.

Jarrod Bacon is currently serving a 12 year prison sentence for trafficking cocaine, while brother Jamie is awaiting trial for his alleged role in the Surrey Six mass slayings in 2007.

Jonathan was shot to death outside a Kelowna casino in 2011.

With files from CTV British Columbia's Lisa Rossington