Kelly Petrowski was one of several Mongols gang members and associates sentenced in the High Court at Hamilton this week. Photo / Belinda Feek
Kelly Petrowski was one of several Mongols gang members and associates sentenced in the High Court at Hamilton this week. Photo / Belinda Feek
“Ramsey” the chef and “Rhino”, a senior member, are two of several Mongols who have been jailed for their part in the gang’s national drug distribution and violence carried out around the Bay of Plenty.
Mathew Ramsden, who has since reconnected with God, was the “washer” of the methamphetamine for the gang for several months in 2020, while Kelly Petrowski, dubbed “Rhino”, was a senior member and close friend of president Jim “JD” Thacker.
The gang was the target of attacks but also responsible for dishing out violence, including a shooting at a Haukore St, Tauranga, home in January 2020, where 96 bullet shell casings were recovered.
The sentencing process of the plethora of gang members, who either pleaded guilty or were found guilty at a three-month trial in the High Court at Hamilton last year where they appeared on a total of 137 charges, is taking place this week.
Many are returning to the court this week to hear their fate delivered by Justice Melanie Harland. However, several senior members including Thacker and vice-president Hone Ronaki will be sentenced in August.
Mathew Ramsden, known as "Ramsey" by Mongols gang members, during sentencing in the High Court at Hamilton. Photo / Belinda Feek
‘Ramsey the chef’
Crown prosecutor Anna Pollett said Ramsden became so familiar with the gang he was even given his own nickname, “Gordon” or “Ramsey”, after the famous chef Gordon Ramsey.
“That was his role, to essentially be a chef and make it a good thing to sell, not to use … [washing] it changed the quality of the product … [giving] it that nice, white, crisp look,” she said.
Given Ramsden’s familiarity with the gang, and the amount of drugs the Crown claimed he was involved in washing, or cleaning – up to 15kg - Pollett called for an eight-year start point for a prison sentence.
The court heard he accompanied gang member Fred Whare to pick up a package of meth from a Denny’s in Auckland on February 9, 2020, which he would later “wash”, transforming it from its “p*** yellow” colour to crisp white.
Pollett accepted Ramsden was not a gang member or associate and was simply connected by his meth addiction and through Ronaki.
Ramsden’s counsel Tony Rickard-Simms, however, said the Crown had no idea how much meth his client was involved in.
“The Crown are painting a windowsill with a broom as far as the evidence is concerned,” and disputed that everyone knew who his client was.
“I don’t accept that Mr Ramsden was a trusted lieutenant because he was just kept in the dark throughout.”
Rickard-Smith said his client only dealt with grams and ounces of meth, totalling no more than 500g and the amount was nowhere near 15kg.
Ramsden’s cultural report explained a break-up with his partner, who would later get pregnant to someone else, led to his connection with Ronaki and the Mongols in order to help feed his ever-growing meth addiction.
Justice Harland found he was involved with 700g of meth.
She praised Ramsden for the rehabilitative work he had been doing with the Salvation Army since his arrest in 2020, as well as reconnecting with his church.
However, given the seriousness of the offending, she was limited to the amount of discount she could apply, resulting in an end jail term of six years and four months.
Senior Mongols gang member Kelly Petrowski appearing for sentencing via audio-visual link in the High Court at Hamilton. Photo / Belinda Feek
‘I’m a ruthless motherf*****’
Lawyer Stephen Lack, representing Petrowski, tried to persuade the judge his client’s involvement in the gang was purely administrative and involved helping organise accommodation and transport for trips, and cellphones.
However, Justice Harland recalled Petrowski’s drunken confrontation with a man when he told him: “I’m a ruthless motherf*****, f*** with the Mongols and you will get got.”
He also instructed a secret witness to drop off 2kg of meth to a man dubbed “Two Times” in Wellington.
Petrowski’s Papamoa rental home was also the target of arson by the Greasy Dogs in October 2019 when three vehicles were torched.
Justice Harland noted there was also the dubious $20,000 cash purchase of a Mercedes-Benz vehicle in May 2020 that was the next day involved in an incident in Malcolm Ave, Te Puke.
She praised him for his rehabilitative efforts and accepted he was a “different person now”, having handed back his gang patch, beginning to remove tattoos, and also connecting with a church.
However, she felt he was attempting to undermine his involvement and said she would have to be naive to accept he was unaware of the violence and drug operations the gang was carrying out.
Petrowski was jailed for 10 years and two months.
Mongols prospect Chavei Smith during his sentencing on Tuesday. Photo / Belinda Feek
‘An instant family’
After breaking up with his partner, and subsequently his four children with their move back to Australia, Chavei Smith, 27, went to live with his uncle, Hone Ronaki, and his uncle’s partner.
Smith’s counsel Scott Mills said Smith got an “instant family, an instant sense of belonging” and from that day did what he was told by Ronaki and others older than him.
That led to him viciously assaulting a Mongrel Mob member in a Te Puke Super Liquor store in 2020 as his uncle stood by, possessing and selling large quantities of cannabis, getting rid of the vehicle involved in the Haukore St shooting, and possession of weapons and explosives including five Molotov cocktails and a homemade bomb.
Justice Harland considered Smith’s upbringing and that he hadn’t offended since being arrested in 2020. He’d also managed to hold down a job since then and hadn’t breached his bail.
By a narrow margin, Smith avoided jail and instead was sentenced to 10 months’ home detention and 100 hours of community work.
Falcon-Reign Smith, 21, during his sentencing in the High Court at Hamilton this afternoon. Photo / Belinda Feek
‘Attracted to cars and cash’
Fancy cars, cash and the gang lifestyle were what initially attracted Falcon-Reign Smith to the Mongols.
Smith, like his cousin Chavei Smith, is related to Ronaki. Although a prospect initially, he eventually became a patched gang member.
Lack pushed for a conviction and discharge as Smith had spent more than three years on restrictive bail for four firearms charges, and one of being an accessory after the fact of the Haukore St and Malcolm Ave shootings.
The 21-year-old was a passenger in a car that went to Malcolm Ave on May 6, 2020, and, along with Chavei Smith, dropped the vehicle involved in the Haukore St incident to the protected witness for cleaning.
Justice Harland told Falcon-Reign Smith he had “simply turned a blind eye” and must have known more about the incidents, even if not the specifics.
She noted he was a first-time offender, otherwise of good character, and had served 30 months on restrictive bail, including the last 12 after pleading guilty.
He was sentenced to two months of community detention with a 7pm to 5am curfew to allow him to continue to work.
Elijah Wanoa, 23, during sentencing on firearms charges from Operation Silk in the High Court at Hamilton. Photo / Belinda Feek.
‘Hallmarks of youthful immaturity’
Lack said Ronaki tried to dissuade his nephew Elijah Wanoa from prospecting with the gang, “but he did so anyway”.
“Mr Wanoa ... bears all the hallmarks of youthful immaturity”, and now regretfully found himself in the High Court.
However, the court was told Wanoa had turned his life around and was now a young father.
He would return to Australia to join his wife and baby, once he had served his sentence.
Lack urged the judge to hand down a conviction and discharge as his client had also served more than three years on restrictive bail and pleaded guilty to three firearms charges last year.
Justice Harland said Wanoa had since matured, showing “great maturity” by expressing remorse and insight into his actions.
She agreed to convict and discharge him.
* On Monday, Timiwaata Wiremu was also sentenced to five years and one month in prison on multiple drug charges.
Belinda Feek has been a reporter for 19 years, and at the Herald for eight years before joining the Open Justice team in 2021.
