Denis Pouliot, who, with three accomplices, wanted to kidnap the president of the Royal Bank of Canada in Quebec in the hope of getting his hands on millions of dollars ten years ago, convinced the parole commissioners to grant him his full parole.
Pouliot, 62, was convicted in 1995 of second-degree murder; he was driving the getaway vehicle during a settling of scores carried out with the help of a machine gun.
In 2013, while he was on parole, he, Gilles Pinsonneault, Denis Paquette and Michel Renaud plotted to kidnap then-RBC president Martin Thibodeau from the latter’s residence in western Ontario. the island of Montreal.
For two days in June 2013, they parked a car in front of their victim’s residence in which boxes had been stacked, and in which a camera had been hidden, to spy on Mr. Thibodeau’s comings and goings.
Their objective was to kidnap the president, then go to the latter’s workplace, at Place Ville Marie, and gain access to the vaults where armored trucks filled with colossal sums transited daily.
SPVM Major Crimes investigators, who uncovered the plot and arrested the suspects before they took action, discovered a pipe bomb in one of them that could be detonated remotely. The sleuths thought that the suspects wanted to handcuff their hostage to a briefcase containing the explosive device, which was, however, never confirmed.
Reassuring progress
Pouliot was the youngest of the four accused. Like the others, he pleaded to charges of conspiracy to kidnap, robbery, and possession of weapons and explosives in October 2017.
He was the one who received the shortest sentence, four and a half years in penitentiary.
Pouliot was already in a halfway house and benefited from unescorted outings, particularly for work.
Parole commissioners now consider he has made enough progress to benefit from full parole.
“It is clear, in the opinion of the Commission, that you have effectively proven yourself, particularly in the last fifteen months, since your return to the community. You were able to satisfactorily transpose into the community your tools and skills that you had started to make in a prison establishment. You have complied with all of the special conditions imposed and you have shown no signs of returning to criminal behavior. No situation involving an increase in risk has been noted. You have developed a simple and satisfying lifestyle for yourself in which you are surrounded positively. (…..) At the hearing, the Commission did not perceive any intention on your part to return to your former way of life,” write the commissioners in their eight-page decision unveiled Monday.
Until the end of parole, Pouliot will not be able to associate with anyone involved in criminal activity or drug trafficking, and will have to disclose all of his financial transactions.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.