Pubdate: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 Source: Windsor Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2005 The Windsor Star Contact: http://www.canada.com/windsor/windsorstar/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501 Author: Doug Schmidt, staff writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers) 9 PLEAD GUILTY TO COCAINE CHARGES Hells Angels Member, Others Facing Jail Time The Hells Angels motorcycle gang was dealt a stinging blow locally Thursday with the convictions of nine men on charges of conspiring to import drugs into the Windsor area, a federal prosecutor said. "This should have a significant impact on people who might consider getting involved in this activity," Richard Pollock said of the breakup of the cocaine trafficking ring. All nine, who remain free on bail over the Christmas season, will be sentenced Jan. 13 in Superior Court. Pollock said he'll seek penitentiary terms "for some" of the conspirators. Defence lawyers said all will be seeing some jail time. Thursday's guilty pleas came after four days of backroom talks between Pollock and five defence lawyers that ended with a number of charges - -- including weapons and illegal gaming -- being withdrawn by the Crown. As part of the deal, the Crown keeps a sizable amount of cash and property originally seized as proceeds of crime. Almost $200,000 cash, a South Windsor home, eight vehicles and a 27-foot speedboat -- more than half a million dollars in assets were seized. In a 12-page agreed statement of facts read by Pollock, the men were part of a conspiracy to import cocaine from Quebec and became the subject of a large-scale investigation known as Project Provider carried out by officers with Windsor police, the RCMP and OPP. Private communications were intercepted between November 2004 and February, and suspects were tracked using global positioning system "probes" attached to their vehicles. Among the main targets was a Lakeshore man, Jose Poulin, 35, whom police allege is a full member of the Hells Angels outlaw gang, and two Windsor men, Carmen (Carmelo) Amante, 39, and Attilio Montaleone, 28, who agreed to distribute the Quebec cocaine to lower-level traffickers for street-level sales in the area. All three pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic in cocaine. Others who confessed to the conspiracy were Salvatore Briguglio, 60, Kevin Jovetic, 32, Antonio (Tony) DeSantis, 53, and Wilfred Payne, 38. Lawyer Robert DiPietro entered a guilty plea for his client, Filippo Polifroni, 62, who is in Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital with an undisclosed condition. A conspiracy charge was dropped against Martin Dufresne, 40, of Sherbrooke, Que., the confessed courier who was arrested at a Highway 401 rest stop with $64,000 hidden in his vehicle's passenger side airbag compartment. He pleaded guilty to possession of the proceeds of crime. Project Provider involved more than 100 police officers and culminated in the arrests of 15 people and the seizure of more than 1.5 kg of cocaine with a street value of more than $225,000. Several of those who were originally arrested still have court action pending on unrelated gaming and other charges. The defence lawyers were quick to point out the statement of facts they agreed upon makes no mention of Hells Angels involvement. "The facts are the facts. Any reference to the Hells Angels is irrelevant or incidental," said Poulin's lawyer John Rosen, one of two Toronto lawyers on the case. Asked outside the courthouse whether his client is a member of the outlaw motorcycle gang, Rosen responded: "I have no comment." Pollock pointed to some of the items seized from Poulin's home on Feb. 21 and then forfeited Thursday to the Crown, including two gold Hells Angels rings, a Hells Angels Windsor colours patch and two sets of Hells Angels coat, belt and vest. Justice R.G.E. Hunter said he was satisfied that a "fair and just" resolution had been worked out in a case he described as "extremely difficult and complex." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin