Hells Angels from the Trois-Rivières section Serge Lebrasseur was sentenced to 40 months in penitentiary on Thursday for having led a network of cocaine and methamphetamine traffickers which operated in Sorel-Tracy, the biker’s stronghold.
Lebrasseur, 59, pleaded guilty Thursday morning at the Sorel-Tracy courthouse to three counts of conspiracy, cocaine trafficking and methamphetamine trafficking. The offenses were committed between January and June 2021.
Lebrasseur and his co-defendants have been detained since last February, after being arrested following an investigation called Quincajou and carried out by investigators from the Montérégie Regional Mixed Squad (ERM), led by the Sûreté du Québec.
“He controls drug trafficking and the territory of Sorel-Tracy. He sets the prices and receives a rating on sales,” described the prosecution prosecutor, Ms.e Corinne Girard, before Judge Stéphane Godry of the Court of Quebec.
Trapped by police clients
The evidence is based on several techniques used by investigators during the Quincajou investigation, ranging from shadowing to the installation of cameras and microphones, including the installation of GPS beacons and the use of undercover agents.
They made several drug purchases during the investigation. They also obtained from co-defendants, who were unaware that they were dealing with police officers, incriminating confidences for their boss. “It’s the Old Man who decides [du prix] “, said a suspect to one of the police moles.
“The undercover agents asked one of the suspects if it was Lebrasseur who managed the network and he confirmed everything,” said Me Girard.
During a meeting with a suspect, undercover officers gave him $2,500 in exchange for 1,000 methamphetamine pills.
Another time, a co-defendant told an undercover agent he had made $2,000 in one week.
Common suggestion
Judge Godry endorsed a joint suggestion from the Prosecution and the Defense.
By subtracting the period spent in preventive detention, which is calculated in time and a half, the biker has approximately 28 months left to serve.
The fact that Lebrasseur pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, thus avoiding a two-month trial, was considered a mitigating factor.
His extensive criminal history, the nature and quantities of the drugs seized and the fact that he was a manager were considered aggravating factors.
Special care
Lebrasseur, who has a handicap in one leg and who has spent several stays in prison in recent years, must, under a Superior Court judgment, benefit from a wheelchair, crutches, a walker, ‘a chair with armrests and non-slip strips in his shower, behind the bars.
But since his arrest in February, he was detained at the Sorel prison, then at the Rivière-des-Prairies Detention Center, was returned to Sorel before being sent to the Montreal Detention Center (Bordeaux).
Each time, everything has to be started again and the places and devices must be adapted to the condition of the biker. His lawyer, Me Annie Lahaise, therefore asked the judge to issue a recommendation so that he avoids a transfer to the Regional Reception Center, where inmates arriving in the federal system are assessed, and that he goes directly to the Drummondville penitentiary.
“Hmm, that’s going a bit far for me. It’s a question of management and security clearance. At best, I could say, if he has a medium rating, to go to Drummondville, but I cannot interfere in the management of correctional services,” the judge reflected aloud, before turning to the convicted.
“Mr. Lebrasseur, you can [tenir] for granted that I am going to make the recommendation, but it remains a recommendation,” he warned.
Another fact to note, Lebrasseur declined to contest a request from the prosecution to confiscate and destroy clothing and jewelry bearing the image of the Hells Angels found in his home.
On the other hand, a black coat will be returned to him, not without badges being first cut out in front of the police, before being given to him.
Almost all of the other defendants in the Quincajou investigation, including a member of the Mean Tribe, the Hells Angels’ school club, Kevin Tessier, also pleaded guilty on Thursday.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.
Who is Serge Lebrasseur?
- Former member of the Rowdy Crew, he joined the ranks of the Hells Angels in 1998.
- Arrested in Operation SharQc in 2009, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of conspiracy to murder and was released in 2015.
- In May 2021, he was sentenced to five months in prison for intimidating a security guard near the Sorel-Tracy–Saint-Ignace-de-Loyola ferry.