OFF THE WIRE
Hells Angel Larry Pooler, foreground, and his four co-accused, from top left, Lorne Campbell, Douglas Myles, John Neal and Mehrdad Bahmanl, have been acquitted on charges of belonging to a criminal organization.
The president of the Downtown Toronto chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and four members have been acquitted on charges of belonging to a criminal organization.The verdict this weekend came four years after mass arrests and the shutdown of the bikers' former bunkerlike clubhouse on Eastern Ave.
Chapter president John Neal, 61, vice-president Douglas Myles, 54, and members Mehrdad Bahman, 48, were all found guilty of charges relating to trafficking GHB, called the date rape drug.
Lorne Campbell, 62, was found guilty of one count of cocaine trafficking and Larry Pooler, 61, was found guilty of possession of a restricted firearm.
None of the bikers was found guilty of any charges relating to being members of an organized crime group.
Campbell was freed on bail on Saturday by Justice Maureen Forestell after the verdict was announced by the jury.
Pooler, who acted as his own lawyer, has been free on strict bail conditions while Myles, Bahman and Campbell remain in custody.
At the heart of the Crown's case was former club officer Dave (Shakey) Atwell, a paid police agent. Atwell was the chapter's “sergeant-at-arms,” meaning he was responsible for meting out discipline.
The trial lasted six months and deliberations took more than four days.
“We're extremely happy with the verdict,” said lawyer Craig Bottomley, who represented Neal. “We're satisfied with the result: that the Hells Angels are not a criminal organization as they exist in Canada.”
Bahman, known inside the club as “Juicy,” pleaded guilty to nine charges of trafficking drugs and possession of the proceeds of crime when the trial began in November.
However, the heavy-set biker, pleaded not guilty to possession of brass knuckles and to trafficking drugs and guns to benefit a criminal organization.
The jury heard that Atwell snorted cocaine with the bikers during the 18 months he secretly taped conversations with them between 2005 and 2007.
The jury also heard that Neal, a parrot-owning grandfather from Shanty Bay, didn't want members who attracted police attention, and once kicked someone out of the club for stealing $9 worth of luncheon meat.
The undercover operation — dubbed “Project Develop” — was suddenly halted when the outlaw bikers smelled a traitor in their midst and Atwell was grilled about his involvement in cocaine and GHB deals gone bad, the Crown told the court.
Court also heard police stirred up chaos in the biker ranks by secretly seizing a large stash of illegal drugs in the midst of Atwell's undercover operation, leaving Bahman with severe cash-flow troubles.
Court heard that the executive of the downtown Hells Angels jumped in to smooth things over with the Haney, B.C. chapter of the Hells Angels, when Bahman didn't pay back a $100,000 debt from a drug deal for GHB to B.C. Hells Angels and a street gang called “United Nations.”
Crown attorney Tanit Gilliam told court that Neal, Myles and Pooler stepped in the arrange payment of the drug debt.
“This was done in order to protect the reputation and good name of the Hells Angels,” Gilliam said.
Defence lawyers argued the Toronto Hells Angels weren't trying to traffic GHB, just protect Bahman from angry drug dealers from B.C.
“He's (Neal) not trying to assist . . . drug trafficking; he's trying to stop a murder — and that's a very different goal,” Bottomley told the jury in his closing address.
In his closing remarks to the jury, Bottomley also argued that “there's a very significant difference between a criminal organization and an organization that has some criminals in it.”
