A former conspiracy leader who blocked the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel after demonstrating against health measures has just been sentenced to home confinement… as during the pandemic.
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“For five months, you will have to stay at your home 24 hours a day, then for the next five months you will have to respect a curfew,” ordered judge Jean-Jacques Gagné in sentencing Mario Roy this Wednesday at the courthouse in Montreal.
Sitting facing the Crown, the ex-Farfadaas, aged 52, did not flinch, preferring to listen to the magistrate on the reasons which pushed him to sentence him to “home prison” for his crimes committed during the pandemic.
At the time, Roy was a leading figure among people opposed to health measures. And as such, he had organized blockades of the bridge-tunnel in 2020 and 2021, wrongly believing that he was protected from prosecution.
“Motorists found themselves stuck behind [Roy et ses acolytes], recalled the judge. He was the undisputed leader of the misdeeds, he was the first violin.
He will be able to celebrate Christmas
Roy, who is defending himself, had pleaded not guilty. But despite his erroneous beliefs, he was found guilty of mischief. However, he hoped to avoid prison, arguing that he wanted to “retire to his lands” and stop his activism.
He had also called Doc Mailloux to testify, to report the “psychological harm” and the “emotional regression” that he would have suffered during incarceration in the past.
However, even if Roy seemed ready to head to the cells, as evidenced by his small suitcase filled with his personal effects, the judge opted instead for home confinement. Thus, Roy will be confined to his home and will then have to respect a curfew similar to the health measures decreed during the pandemic.
However, he will not have to cancel his Christmas, as was the case in 2020, since the judge granted him an exemption for that day, just like for the New Year.
Charity… excluding conspiracy theorists
And after this forced confinement, Roy will have to respect a two-year probation. He will also have to pay a total of $3,000 to charitable organizations.
Roy briefly tried to convince the judge to choose an organization founded by a certain “Me Bohémier”, but the judge refused. An internet search leads to the organization La main des enfants, whose mission seems to be to oppose the vaccination of children against COVID-19 and which continues to convey a conspiracy thesis about the vaccine.
“If you do not respect the conditions, you will be charged and one of the consequences will be to serve this sentence behind the walls,” warned the judge, inviting Roy “not to stretch the elastic.”
Politely, Roy replied that it was “not [son] intention”.