‘Web of deceit’ deserves stiff penalty: Crown

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Hells Angels poseur a high risk to reoffend, court hears

By Andrew Seymour, The Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — A man whose “web of deceit” included telling girlfriends he was a member of the Hells Angels so they wouldn’t report it when he beat and raped them should be sentenced to spend nearly four more years behind bars, a prosecutor argued Tuesday.

Assistant Crown attorney Marie Dufort argued Peter Guido deserves the prison sentence after meeting women online and then using lies and the threat of violence to manipulate and deceive them into complying with his demands for money and sex.

A psychiatrist found Guido “did impress as significantly psychopathic” and was a high risk to reoffend violently, Dufort added.

Guido, 31, who pleaded guilty to 15 charges in February, admitted he pretended to be a member of the elite Hells Angels Nomads, including going so far as to tell one woman he was the nephew of the group’s president, Paul “Sasquatch” Porter, and had spent time in prison for murder.

In a victim-impact statement, one of his victims said she felt “fear, anxiety and helplessness” after Guido “hijacked” the lives of her and her three children.

Guido pulled out a clump of her hair and punched her repeatedly in the head during one argument, and assaulted her then-15-year-old son during another, court heard. Guido told her if she reported the incident, the Hells Angels “have a way of making bodies disappear.” When she broke up with him, Guido went to her home and forced himself on her, pulling off her pants and having sex with her.

“I had to explain to my youngest son, who was 12 at the time, that he had to worry about men coming to our house to hurt us,” wrote the woman, who sat quietly dabbing her eyes with a tissue as Dufort read her statement. “I was led to believe I had to look over my shoulder when out of the house and peeking through blinds when home in fear of Hells Angels outside.”

The woman, who lost $23,000 to Guido, wrote that she couldn’t believe the “cruelty” of knowing that it was “all coldly staged” for his personal gain.

But Guido’s lawyer, Paul Lewandowski, argued the public would be better protected if Guido were sentenced to a further two years less a day in jail, followed by three years of community supervision under the “watchful eye” of the probation office. That sentence would take into account two-for-one credit for the 16 months Guido has spent in custody since his arrest.

Lewandowski argued Guido pleaded guilty to the offences and willingly participated in psychiatric assessments which are now like an “axe hanging over his head” should he ever get in trouble again.

But Dufort argued that Guido should receive only partial two-for-one credit since his original plea had to be struck after he denied committing some of the acts. During the second psychiatric assessment, Guido again attempted to minimize his involvement and present himself in the best possible light, said Dufort, who is seeking a further three years and 11 months in prison for him.

Guido is to be sentenced May 31.