Longtime King Cobras gang member Daniel Vae sentenced for closet cache of guns, ammo

A longtime gang member with a decades-long criminal history has been sentenced to prison again - this time after police uncovered a cache of illegal firearms, magazines and ammunition in the closet of his partner’s Blockhouse Bay home.

Daniel Vae, 45, was last in Auckland District Court for sentencing in May last year, when he was sentenced to two years and 11 months’ prison for shooting a crossbow at a woman’s head, barely missing her, and painting the word “snitch” outside her home.

Police executed a new search warrant this past August, finding a Tippman M4-22 semi-automatic rifle wrapped in a blanket. In the same closet was a sawn-off rifle hidden in a computer bag and 119 rounds of ammunition, some of which were loaded into magazines.

Defence lawyer Michael Kan asked for a non-custodial sentence for his client today, noting that Vae quickly pleaded guilty and has expressed remorse for his actions. But police prosecutor Alva Tohovaka-Staples agreed with a probation report that home detention wasn’t a suitable outcome given his long criminal history.

Judge Debra Bell ordered a sentence of 17 months. Sentences of under two years often result in home detention, but the judge said prison was needed in light of his more than a dozen firearms-related convictions over the years.

“Given Mr Vae’s history, particularly for this type of offending, I am of the opinion he is not suitable for home detention,” she said.

Vae joined the Crips as a teenager and became a patched member of the King Cobras in 2001. He’s told authorities he left the gang a decade later and now has no affiliation, but his violent offending has continued.

King Cobras gang members gather in Māngere in June 2022. Photo / Dean Purcell

During his last sentencing hearing, the judge described him as a “habitual criminal” whose “extensive criminal history” then included 44 convictions dating back to 1996.

He also achieved brief notoriety in 2010 when he was caught posting an expletive-laden rant against the police on Facebook while serving a prison sentence on firearms charges.

A probation report prepared for today’s sentencing assessed him as a moderate to high risk of reoffending.

The guns were found amid a police investigation into “straw buyers” - people with gun licences alleged to have purchased weapons on behalf of criminals. Another person has been charged with acting in such a role and is awaiting trial.

Vae, meanwhile, described the closet discovery as the result of a “stupid” decision on his part.

“He says ... his friend was cruising around with firearms in the car and he tried to help him,” Judge Bell noted. “He agrees he’s still making poor decisions.”

Vae, who has been in custody since his latest arrest three months ago, smiled at family members who came to support him in court today. Supporters filed out of the courtroom as the judge made it clear he would again be serving a prison term for an illegal firearms collection.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.