Jonathan Papillon, considered by the police as a former right-hand man of former member of the Montreal Rockers, Jean-Guy Bourgouin, will be sentenced to five years in prison for cocaine trafficking at the end of January.
Papillon, 29, and three other individuals arrested in June 2021 following a major investigation by the Organized Crime Division (DCO) of the SPVM, pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon to several counts related to cocaine trafficking and of methamphetamine, thus avoiding a trial lasting several weeks which was to begin next January.
Papillon has been detained since his arrest. By subtracting the period spent in preventive detention – which is calculated in time and a half – he will have less than nine months to serve when he receives his sentence on January 29.
The other accused who pleaded guilty are Samuel Fagnant, of L’Épiphanie, Alexandre Desgagné, of Montreal and Mélyssa Paquet-Dugas, of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts.
Next January, if Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné of the Court of Quebec endorses the joint suggestions of the prosecution and the defense, the three accused will be sentenced to sentences of 36, 18 and 12 months respectively.
A prolific network
The investigation, called Renouveau, targeted a group of individuals who trafficked cocaine on the Plateau-Mont-Royal in Montreal, and who supplied kilograms of cocaine to other criminal organizations in the metropolitan region and the east of the Quebec.
According to our information, the dismantled organization would have been able to transact between 10 and 20 kg of cocaine per week.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SPVM
Methamphetamine tablets seized by investigators from the SPVM Organized Crime Division.
In a press release, the SPVM indicated that it had seized 20 kg of cocaine worth $1.4 million on the black market, 218,000 methamphetamine tablets, various quantities of Xanax, mescaline and other narcotics, two firearms , an electric pulse gun, brass knuckles, ammunition of different calibers, bulletproof jackets and nearly $800,000 in cash.
Trapped by the police
According to a summary of the facts filed in court, on June 16, 2020, DCO investigators followed a vehicle driven by one of the suspects, in which there were kilograms of cocaine, to Saint-Louis-de- Blandford, in Center-du-Québec.
When intercepting the vehicle, they prevented the driver from grabbing his phone on which there was an active conversation on the encrypted communications app Ciphr between several suspects whose aliases were Bunker, Cowboy, Jane and Beef.
Jane then asked the owner of the newly arrested device where he was, on Smith Row.
An investigator responded by indicating an address and it was the police officers who formed the reception committee for this second vehicle in which “Jane” was and a sum of $55,000 intended for the purchase of a kilogram of cocaine. .
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SPVM
The sleuths got their hands on nearly $800,000 during the Renouveau investigation.
An ex-Rocker in turmoil
The police suspect Jean-Guy Bourgouin, former member of the Rockers, a defunct Hells Angels school club very active during the biker war (1994-2002), of having led this network even if he has not been accused in the Renouveau survey.
However, during the investigation, the police discovered a pistol at Bourgouin’s home, who was accused of possession of a prohibited weapon and convicted.
In January 2018, Jean-Guy Bourgouin was the victim of an attempted murder while leaving a restaurant in the Saint-Léonard district.
An individual was tried and convicted for this event, Girard Anglade, considered by the police as a former accomplice of Frédérick Silva, this former organized crime hitman turned informer, and who is currently at the heart of a major SPVM investigation. and the Sûreté du Québec.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.