The court breaks the Hells Angels party

Superior Court upholds police seizure of nearly 600 liquor containers found during search in March 2018

Tough week for the Hells Angels.

After some of their members have had their jackets confiscated, a Superior Court judge overturns a trial judgment and finds one of their relatives guilty of illegal possession of alcohol.

By the same token, the magistrate maintains the seizure by the police of nearly 600 containers of alcohol found during a search carried out in the premises of the Hells Angels of the South section, in Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu, in March 2018.

The property, located on the 4^e Rang Nord, belongs to Richard Dion-Lecompte, son of Robert Lecompte, member of the Hells Angels of the South section.

Dion-Lecompte is not a member of the Hells Angels of the South section, but they are the ones who use the garage of the property as a place and a place for meetings and parties.

There is no liquor license in effect at the address of the property and the police gave Dion-Lecompte a statement of offense for having illegally possessed or kept alcoholic beverages in Quebec in violation of the Liquor Offenses Act.

But before the Court of Quebec, the defense challenged the statement of offense and the seizure.

A member of the Hells Angels from the South Section, Dean Moore, testified and said that Dion-Lecompte had acted as a figurehead for the acquisition of the property.

Mr. Moore also explained that the garage was used as a gathering place and partiesthat between 50 and 100 people could be accommodated there each week, and even up to 250 people during the section’s anniversary.

He said alcohol was still purchased legally at the SAQ and served free.

The judge of the Court of Quebec had accepted the arguments of the defense and had acquitted Dion-Lecompte on the basis of the fact that the alcohol was purchased legally and offered free of charge.

The magistrate also allowed him to invoke an exception to the law which consists in authorizing the possession of alcoholic beverages legally acquired for a purpose other than resale, and this, “in the establishment of his business”. This is where the problem lies.

A civic and friendly organization

The prosecution appealed this judgment to the Superior Court, alleging in particular that the South section of the Hells Angels could not be qualified as a business since it is a criminal organization.

During his testimony, Dean Moore also stated that the Hells Angels South was “a motorcycle organization that sells promotional products to generate revenue” and that it was not a business, although it was registered.

He also said that this income allowed the purchase of buildings, that the sale of products was done elsewhere than in the room, that it was used only for private meetings and that it was not open to the public.

During the proceedings, Dion-Lecompte even claimed that the South section of the Hells Angels could be entered in the business register in the category of “Civic and friendly organizations”, but Judge Myriam Lachance of the Superior Court concluded that “this claim was speculative” since no evidence to that effect, or what type of business the South Section of the Hells Angels would be, was presented in evidence.

“The respondent Mr. Dion-Lecompte was legally the owner of the garage, even though he had acted as a nominee for the South chapter at the time of the purchase of this property. He was not a member of the South Chapter and did not own or manage any businesses. Consequently, the garage could in no way be considered as “the establishment of his business”. It was not the South chapter that was the subject of the statement of offense as the owner or tenant of the searched garage, but only Mr. Dion-Lecompte. The evidence did not show overwhelmingly that the South chapter was a ‘business’ or that the garage was ‘the establishment of its business’,” Judge Lachance explains in particular in her decision.

It therefore concludes that the trial judge erred in law. It allowed the motion for appeal, quashed the acquittal, replaced it with a verdict of guilty and condemned Dion-Lecompte to the minimum sentence, namely a fine of $500.

A call to come?

According to our information, the police welcome this judgment. For his part, Dion-Lecompte’s lawyer, Mr.^e Marc-Antoine Rock says he will likely appeal the decision. In the meantime, seized liquor containers are still being held but not confiscated.

It is also unclear whether this judgment may have an effect on the alcohol stored and served regularly on the premises of the Hells Angels, but it should be noted that it is Mr. Dion-Lecompte who is found guilty and not the Hells Angels.

On Wednesday, a judge of the Court of Quebec also ordered the confiscation of the jackets of some members of the Trois-Rivières section and their subordinate clubs.

In recent years, only the jackets of the Hells Angels Stéphane Maheu and Michel Langlois could not be confiscated following an investigation by the Sûreté du Québec. In this case, the prosecution had not presented any evidence.

To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.