From the Courts: More Brotherly Guilt

As reported by Steve Bruce of the Herald:
Two members of a well-known Halifax-area crime family, brothers Jimmy and Cory Melvin, pleaded out on charges in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax on Thursday.

Jimmy Melvin Jr., 27, of Fall River pleaded guilty to committing property mischief by damaging a fire sprinkler at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth on April 4, 2008.

The Crown then announced it would not be offering any evidence on three other charges — two of break and enter and one of conspiracy to commit break and enter — that Jimmy Melvin was facing from 2006. Justice Kevin Coady dismissed the charges.

Sentencing on the mischief charge is set for May 4.

Cory Melvin, 24, of East Lawrencetown pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of an incendiary device — a Molotov cocktail — for the purpose of committing arson.

The charges stem from a firebombing at 5 Newcastle St. in Dartmouth on Sept. 10, 2006, and two others on School Avenue in Halifax the next day. Each carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Coady dismissed one count of conspiracy and 10 arson charges that Cory Melvin was scheduled to go to trial on in connection with a series of firebombings around metro in 2006.

Cory Melvin will be sentenced April 8.

Both brothers are represented by lawyer Josh Arnold.

Andrew Jason Hudder, a 23-year-old Halifax man serving a 40-month prison sentence for other matters, also appeared before Coady on 18 charges in connection with the firebombings and break-ins.

Lawyer Warren Zimmer asked that Hudder be remanded to the Dartmouth jail and brought back to Supreme Court on April 10.

"Mr. Hudder was just brought down from a federal institution in the last 24 hours and I need some time to speak with him," Zimmer told the judge, who granted his request.

Jimmy Melvin, who got out of jail Jan. 15 after serving his latest sentence, is back in custody on kidnapping and other charges. He was arrested Feb. 10 after Halifax Regional Police responded to a call about a man being assaulted by three men in the Highfield Park neighbourhood of Dartmouth.

Police charged Jimmy Melvin with kidnapping, extortion, assault with a weapon, other weapons-related offences, uttering threats and breaching previous release conditions. He also faces five charges from an altercation he apparently had with police Feb. 11 while in custody — three counts of assaulting a police officer, uttering threats and breaching a recognizance.

Cory Melvin and Robert Cox, 26, of Halifax are both charged with kidnapping, uttering threats and assault with a weapon. The younger Melvin also faces two charges of breaching court orders.

With the agreement of the Crown, both men were released with conditions Feb. 17. Cory Melvin’s mother pledged $10,000 in property to secure his release.

The Melvins and Cox will return to Dartmouth provincial court March 8, along with Natalie Digioacchino, 28, of Harrietsfield, who was released Feb. 12 on charges of kidnapping and extortion.

Jimmy Melvin has three other sets of charges before the courts.

He was arrested Jan. 24 after police were called about a fight at the Halifax casino. He appeared in Halifax provincial court the next day on charges of causing a disturbance in a public place and breaching a court order, and was released on a recognizance.

He’s also charged with arson and mischief for allegedly setting fire to a blanket in a cell at the Dartmouth jail in April 2008. And he is expected to have a charge transferred from New Brunswick, where he was accused of uttering threats against a guard at the Atlantic Institution in Renous.

"Thank you, My Lord," Jimmy Melvin said to the judge at the end of Thursday’s proceedings.

Jimmy then told his brother, who was sitting in the spectators gallery, that he’s been placed in solitary confinement at the jail for having vitamin C tablets.

"That’s what they put me in there for!" he said.

As he was led away by sheriff’s deputies, Jimmy pointed to a female deputy posted in the courtroom and said, "Watch her. She’s gorgeous."