FALL RIVER: Well-known Fall River crime figure Jimmy Melvin Jr., is once again in trouble with the law early on the morning Jan. 24 by Halifax Regional Police.
Officers were called to the Casino Nova Scotia outlet in Halifax at about 3:30 a.m. for what they called a physical disturbance.
According to an HRP spokesperson, only one person was trying to fight.
Const. Brian Palmeter said police did not lay an assault charge as none of the involved parties were co-operative with police and didn’t wish any police action.
Melvin Jr., was allegedly found to be in violation of his release conditions and was arrested. He appeared briefly in court Jan. 25.
Crown attorney John Scott agreed to his release on $1,500 bail with several conditions, including that he is not to go within 30 metres of the casino and isn’t to possess alcohol or weapons.
He had been released from police custody Jan. 15, on another matter after being locked up since November. He had received a three-month sentence as a result of being a passenger in a vehicle that contained a prohibited weapon.
Melvin Jr. is expected back in court March 4, to enter a plea on the more recent charges stemming from the incident at the Casino.
In other Melvin news, he pleaded guilty to threatening a Halifax Regional Police officer, but he won’t face any extra time behind bars for the offence.
In Dartmouth Provincial Court Jan. 4, Melvin Jr., pleaded guilty to uttering a threat against Const. Chris Marinelli in November 2008.
He was sentenced to 12 days in jail by Judge Frank Hoskins, which is to be served concurrently with a three-month term Melvin Jr., was handed in Nov. 2009 as a result of being a passenger in a motor vehicle which he knew had a prohibited weapon.
Defence lawyer Josh Arnold and Crown attorney Jane Greig jointly recommended the concurrent sentence for the 27-year-old. Hoskins dismissed a charge against Melvin Jr., of breaching a court order by failing to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
He has been serving the three-month term at Sydney-based Cape Breton Correctional Facility in Sydney, but he will reportedly do the remainder of the time at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, in Dartmouth.
Melvin Jr., a convicted drug dealer, is to be eligible for release the week of Jan. 11, after completing two-thirds of his sentence.
RCMP had been monitoring Melvin Jr’s movements after he threatened a police officer outside the provincial Registry of Deeds on Wyse Road, in Dartmouth on Nov. 27, 2008.
He had been released from prison a couple weeks prior after some key witnesses changed their stories regarding charges against him in relation to a home invasion in March 2007.
That release triggered a number of shootings which are believed to be linked to a drug war between the Melvin and Marriott families. Melvin Jr., was wounded in two of those shootings.
Melvin Jr. has two other sets of charges before the courts. A preliminary inquiry is scheduled for Jan. 13, in provincial court on arson and mischief charges stemming from an April 2008, fire at a Dartmouth jail cell. Then there’s a jury trial set to start on Jan. 25 in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on charges of break-and-enter and conspiracy dating back to 2006. The jury trial was delayed until Feb. 25, to set a new date.