William Rainville claims he was unaware he was carrying pistol carcasses when he was arrested by Royal Canadian Mounted Police near his Dundee residence in March 2021.
Posted at 4:36 p.m.
That’s what the 25-year-old, who was sentenced to five years in prison in July 2021 and asked – and was granted – to go to a halfway house, told parole boarders on Friday.
The case had been resounding. Rainville, a first-class young businessman, financial adviser and real estate owner who once said he wanted to achieve financial security at 40, was caught with hockey bags stuffed with carcasses of pistols Polymer80 valued at $1.6 million, having just left its new property in Dundee which straddles the border between Canada and the United States.
PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK
William Rainville
According to the information heard or filed in court, a truck carrying the weapons got stuck on the American side, and in the dark, in the snow, in the middle of winter, Rainville picked up the bags and brought them to Canada by toboggan, with lights attached to the ankles.
“I’m not the head of the network, it’s not me who had this idea. I was asked to carry this from there to there. I didn’t know it was weapons, I didn’t know the quantity. When I opened the bags, I said, “Wow !” I then questioned myself, ”described William Rainville.
“But you must have known that when you cross the border late at night, surely it’s illegal?” asked commissioner Steven Dubreuil.
“Yes, I know, but money has taken precedence over my happiness,” Rainville replied.
Poor attendance
He added that he did this because an unidentified friend, “a bad company” known to CEGEP, who owed him $ 7,000, asked him.
He accepted because he wanted his money back and $30,000 more, because he wanted to renovate his property in Dundee, because nothing was going well in his life at the time, that Desjardins had just suspended him with salary from his position as financial advisor, that he had just separated from his spouse and that he was attracted “by the lure of gain and financial and social success”.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
William Rainville’s house where the prohibited handguns were found in five hockey bags seized during a border watch operation near Dundee.
“If it had worked, would you have continued? Asked one of the commissioners.
“In my opinion, no. When I opened the bags, and realized what was inside, I would have refused to continue,” assured Rainville.
“Do you think you now have a debt since the merchandise was seized? asked Commissioner Evans Bédard.
“I don’t come from a criminal background. In my opinion, I think not. I was not an informer. I made my transport. I got arrested. So far, the messages I have received…. uh, my feellingis that my life will not be in danger when I am outside,” was his answer to the question.
Path error
Referring to his notes, speaking quickly, sometimes as if he had learned his speech by heart, William Rainville often used the words “prosocial values”, “obsessed with money and success”, “introspection” and “factors of risk” during the hearing.
He said he overheard conversations from fellow inmates during his detention who were already planning their next crime. “They didn’t understand anything,” he told the commissioners.
William Rainville said he often watched the news about the shootings in Montreal on television at the penitentiary.
PHOTO THE PRESS
The weapons found were in pieces, but all the parts necessary to make them functional were present.
“Firearms are used to kill and injure, but it was for the money. Whenever I see such events on television, I feel bad. I’m really not proud of my actions. It’s a misstep. The sentence here traumatized me. It will mark me for life. I want to turn the page and start a new chapter,” he said.
William Rainville has announced that he has sold all of his properties since his conviction.
He assures that when he leaves, he wants to re-establish the bond of trust with his family and take courses in carpentry and joinery, with the aim of renovating and building houses.
Even though commissioners Dubreuil and Bédard underlined the seriousness of the crime and the fact that firearms are a scourge, they nevertheless accepted that Rainville go to a halfway house, considering his lack of criminal history, the progress made and the fact that the transition house will contribute to his gradual social reintegration.
Rainville is subject to conditions; he will have to disclose all his financial transactions, reveal the exchanges on his communication device, not advise anyone financially and not communicate with anyone he knows is involved in criminal activities.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, extension 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of La Presse.