(Prime Time Crime exclusive Mar. 5, 2007)
Bunker seizure a blow to Bikers
By Leo Knight
Four weeks ago a symbolic blow was struck against the Hells Angels and the media barely noticed. Yet, the findings in the case by the judge and his resulting decision may have reverberations against the outlaw motorcycle gang from coast to coast.
One of the founding members of the Quebec City chapter of the Hells Angels, Rene “Willy” Pearson was found guilty of gangsterism by a jury in December. Pearson was serving a ten year sentence for cocaine trafficking at the time of the guilty verdict.
In January, at his sentencing hearing, Crown Prosecutor Robert Rouleau asked the presiding Judge Claude C. Gagnon, to order the forfeiture of the bikers’ clubhouse in St. Nicolas, Quebec.
Remarkably, on January 31st, the judge did just that. It was the first time that such an order was made against the Hells Angels. But this judge went a lot further than that.
The learned Judge ordered the forfeiture of 35 Hells Angels patches and 9 Hells Angels vests along with all patches and insignia on the vests - the colours of the members of the Quebec City chapter.
Gagnon found that while the colours had not been entered into evidence nor were they used in relation to an offence, he was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the property was "intended for use for the purpose of committing an indictable offence."
In a nutshell, he said what anyone who understands the Hells Angels has long known, that the bikers use their patches as a vehicle for intimidation and in doing so allows them to commit and further their criminal enterprises.
But that nutshell may turn out to be a bombshell. This is now a finding of judicial fact and as such, is a precedent decision, albeit in a Quebec court. Now, this doesn’t mean that all future trials of Hells Angels members will be affected. It does, however, mean they may.
The Hells Angels have long maintained they are nothing but a bunch of fun lovin’ good ol’ boys who like riding Harleys and partyin’ their asses off. But the reality is that individual members of the Hells Angels use their colours as a weapon of intimidation.
And now a Quebec Judge has recognized that simple truth. In doing so, he also recognized that the bikers’ patch is akin to his manhood. In fact, taking away a patch is a tool of discipline within the biker culture used by the gangs themselves. It can also be the ultimate insult.
It remains to be seen how the bikers’ themselves will react to this. In at least two provinces, Ontario and British Columbia, separate superior courts have found that the Hells Angels are a criminal organization. And now, in Quebec, a judge has not only agreed and convicted a member of gangsterism, but he has defrocked the members and ordered their fortified clubhouse forfeit to the Crown.
It’s impossible to say what the fall-out of this will be. But, to be sure, this is only the beginning.
The war for control of the drug trade in Montreal between the then-Rock Machine and the Hells Angels, began on July 14, 1994 and continued until June 5th, 2002 when the Quebec Nomads chapter was dismantled by the police. During that period, 165 people were murdered including 9 innocents, one of those an 11 year old boy. A further 181 people were wounded in murder attempts and of those, 20 were innocent victims in the wrong place at the wrong time.
One judge has finally expressed the outrage of the state. If only the mainstream media noticed.
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