OFF THE WIRE
By SARAH DEETH , EXAMINER POLICE WRITER
Bob Pammett has been at odds with law enforcement for years.
He's almost infamous as the area's local biker gang liaison and has a storied history involving drugs and guns.
He's waging a court battle to keep his McNamara Rd. house, he's fighting local police on a charge of violating his house arrest and he said police harass him on an almost daily basis.
He's clearly frustrated with what's happening with him and sat down with The Examiner to tell his side of the story.
Pammett doesn't attempt to deny or sugar coat his past.
"I am what I am," he said, speaking at his home.
Pammett openly admits to being a member of the Bandidos biker gang. He may be the gang's last living member in Ontario, a title he assumed after eight members of the gang were murdered at a London-area farm in April 2006.
"And I was a full patch member of Satan's Choice," he said.
Pammett wouldn't comment on the recent arrival of the Outlaws biker gang in the city and the gang's new clubhouse just outside city limits.
There are a lot of myths about biker gangs, he said, and what they do. He also pointed out he's never been charged with an offence while being a member of a gang.
Pammett has been back in the city since March following a two-year stint in jail as he waited for the court to deal with numerous drug trafficking charges levied against him following a raid at his house in March 2008.
Police, he said, have been misleading the public about what's gone on since the moment they arrested him.
Pammett's charges were the result of Project Underground, a joint investigation between city police and OPP. They're also the source of most of Pammett's current legal woes.
It was billed as a provincewide break up of a cocaine trafficking ring.
Pammett disagrees.
The investigation was focused entirely in Peterborough, he said, and mostly on him.
Police charged seven people, including Pammett, as the investigation drew to a close.
Of that group, Pammett said he only knew three people: His son, Robert Pammett Jr., his daughter, Cherie Pammett, and his then-partner, Wanda Witowski.
Pammett's house was seized by police and remains in the care and custody of the government.
The Crown is arguing the house is property obtained by crime and was used to facilitate criminal activity. The latter refers to Pammett selling police informant Merv Monteith 15 ounces of cocaine over a three-week period.
It was the first time police seized a residence through asset forfeiture laws. Pammett's confid e nt he'll get his waterfront property back.
"How do you seize a house on a 15-ounce drug deal?" Pammett asked.
He estimates the property to be worth about $2 million.
And, he said, it has been destroyed by the police.
The koi fish in his fish pond are all dead, he said, and so are his plants.
A large statue at the front of the house was knocked over and smashed.
The sump pumps in the base-m e nt were turned off, so the basement flooded, he said.
It was drained, but parts of the house are now filled with mould.
Holes were smashed in the walls and ceiling and ceramic tiles were shattered, he said, and trees were ripped out of the ground.
Pammett said he has been told the electrical wiring was problematic and wires have been ripped out while makeshift wiring has been stapled to the ceiling.
He estimates the damage to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Police have no respect for anyone," Pammett said. "They're stretching the laws beyond their means."
The appearance of the Outlaws in the city has caused a commotion. Pammett accuses police of deliberately stirring the pot, trumping up the situation in order to expand the police budget.
Pammett saved some of his strongest words for Monteith.
Monteith spoke with The Examiner about his ordeal in an exclusive interview. He said he did it because he wanted to change and wanted his daughter proud of him.
Monteith said he was paid about $96,000, plus living expenses for acting as an informant.
Pammett disagrees, saying Monteith was paid twice that amount. He pointed out it was taxpayers' money.
Mo n t e i t h was a nobody on the street, Pammett said, and had no respect.
"His daughter will be proud, knowing that he's the king of the rats," Pammett said. "And if he didn't do it for the money, why didn't he do it for free?"
City police Det. Const. Ian Maxwell said he couldn't comment on the terms of Monteith's contract.
As for Pammett's house, Maxwell said he could only say that police executed a search warrant at the home and that the matter is still before the courts.
Pammett is also still before the courts on a charge of violating the conditions of his house arrest in July.
He was charged with dangerous driving. Police said he was driving aggressively on Monaghan Rd. to keep up with Outlaws members.
Police didn't seize his truck until two weeks after the charge was laid, he said.
"They said I was using it as a dangerous weapon."
Pammett took it to trial and the charge was dismissed Sept. 15. He said he still hasn't gotten his truck back.
He's still facing a charge that he violated the conditions of his house arrest that day. That hearing continues Wednesday.
He's confident things will turn out in his favour.
"Police did everything they can in the world and they can't break me," he said.
sdeeth@peterboroughexaminer.com
