Jeffrey Colegrove, considered by the authorities to be a member of traditional Irish organized crime, was not able to enjoy the beautiful days of summer 2023 for very long.
Just three weeks after being granted parole at the end of June, his parole was suspended on July 13 because Colegrove violated several of his conditions, according to a Parole Board decision. of Canada (CLCC) delivered just before Christmas.
Colegrove, 57, has been serving a 12-year prison sentence since January 2017 for drug trafficking. He was arrested in 2015 by investigators from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) in a house on the west of the island of Montreal where, in addition to drugs, the police had discovered weapons, glasses tactics, laser sights and bulletproof vests.
Surprise at the park
Colegrove was granted automatic release – automatic, at two-thirds of his sentence – on June 21, but three weeks later he was the subject of a surprise check from his release officer while he was found in a park.
Contrary to his release conditions, Colegrove had downloaded the encrypted communications application Telegram on his cell phone.
Confronted by his release agent, he explained that the application was used to follow news about the war in Ukraine. Upon further searching the device, the officer also found research on an individual about whom Colegrove had safety concerns.
Regarding a nickname stored in the phone, Colegrove said it was his, but, at the officer’s request, he called that contact, who refused to identify himself.
In a bag that Colegrove was carrying, the officer found another phone wrapped in three dusty Ziploc bags, as if the device had been dug up. The officer asked him to unlock it, but Colegrove refused.
Fellow prisoners do his cleaning
Authorities removed the SIM card from the phone, analyzed it and found a contact name.
Confronted again by his bail agent, Colegrove explained that he had equipped himself with a second phone so he could speak to his lawyer, because in the past his conversations had been listened to by authorities.
He said the contact in question was a fishing buddy.
However, after verification, it was the name of an individual “linked to traditional Irish organized crime in relation to the Colombian clan”, we can read in the decision.
But that’s not all. After Colegrove’s release was suspended, a phone was found in his possession at the penitentiary on September 13, and the man became a subject of interest to correctional officers.
“It was also observed that shortly after your return to incarceration, influential inmates were already doing things for you, such as cooking and cleaning, which demonstrates your importance,” writes the commissioner in particular who listened to the testimony of Colegrove in audience.
The latter denied any link with traditional Irish organized crime, rejected any involvement in the crime and grumbled against its “disproportionate” conditions which, according to him, compromised his reintegration.
But his testimony did not have the desired effect.
The commissioner revoked his release, due to a lack of transparency and high risks of recidivism.
“In reaching this conclusion, the Commission does not lose sight of the persistent nature of your criminality, your involvement at a high level in drug trafficking and your previous difficulties in the community in complying with your conditions of release, by moving illegally at liberty on several occasions and reoffends in this context. The Commission has not noted any progress since your release, considering that you were absent less than three weeks before your suspension,” he wrote among other things in his decision.
During his long criminal career, Colegrove found himself on the loose more than once, including once for six years.
In 2018, while incarcerated, he was arrested for allegedly running a drug trafficking ring, but the charges were dropped after a judge ruled the wiretap was illegal.
Jeffrey Colegrove was once believed by police to be a major player in the large-scale export of cannabis to the United States.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.