Australia - Bikie Mercanti sentenced to 12 months jail..........

OFF THE WIRE
Source: smh.com.au


Prominent Perth bikie Troy Mercanti has been sentenced to 12 months' jail for refusing to answer questions from the Australian Crime Commission (ACC).
Already in jail for assault, the 43-year-old will still be due for release in April with the new sentence backdated.
Mercanti, a former member of the Coffin Cheaters bikie gang, became a nominee for the rival Finks gang in 2008.
In the Perth District Court on Tuesday, Mercanti faced 10 charges of refusing to answer questions from the ACC, during an investigation into unexplained wealth in the Mercanti family in October 2009.
He earlier pleaded guilty to all 10 charges.
During sentencing submissions, Mercanti's lawyer Laurie Levy asked the judge to consider a concurrent jail term but prosecutor Anthony Eyers argued that would not serve as a deterrent for others.
The judge commented that the maximum penalty for the crime was five years imprisonment but no punishment handed down in the past had been more than 12 months.
He said that while Mercanti had a "significant record" he was hopeful that maturity would "kick in" once Mercanti was released from prison and he would stop breaking the law.
Mercanti chuckled at the remark and looked over at his partner Tammy Cherie Kingdon sitting in court.
Kingdon earlier on Tuesday was due to be sentenced for stealing about $53,500 from four Commonwealth Bank trust accounts set up for the children of two former bikie friends who were killed.
In August 2008, Kingdon put the money into an account in her name, using it to buy a property in Balga, which became the Finks clubhouse.
But her sentencing was postponed because her lawyer had fallen off his bike and could not attend court.
Her bail was extended to January 27, 2011, because she is the sole carer of her children she has with Mercanti while he is in prison.
Mercanti is already serving a two-year-and-four-months term, handed down in late 2008, for assault causing grievous bodily harm.
His parole application on the assault sentence was rejected in April 2010.
Tuesday's sentencing has been backdated to April 2010, which means Mercanti will be released from prison in April 2011.
When Mercanti is released, he will be on a two-year good behaviour bond of $4000.