Micheal Plante is made an 'official friend' and entrusted with a cache of weapons.
Unaware that police agent Micheal Plante was secretly collecting evidence impli-cating them in drug deals, extortions, and other crimes, the Hells Angels finally accepted him into their fold as an "official friend" in September 2004.
Unaware that police agent Micheal Plante was secretly collecting evidence implicating them in drug deals, extortions, and other crimes, the Hells Angels finally accepted him into their fold as an "official friend" in September 2004.
Plante was called into the weekly "church" meeting at the East End clubhouse by David (Gyrator) Giles.
"They are all looking at me. And they say: 'Tell us why you want to be a Hells Angel,' " Plante recalled.
"I did my speech - 'Well you know, I have been hanging around you guys. I like the camaraderie. I like what is going on around here. And I really, really want to be part of it. And I want to be part of the bigger thing.' " Giles asked him about the fact he had studied criminology and told him he'd never be able to pursue the field again.
East End president John Bryce laid out how police would react to Plante now that he was in the program.
"Bryce said something like, 'You are going to have a lot of heat on you now because they like to pick on us,' " Plante recalled.
Giles made a final joking comment, all captured on the wire Plante was wearing: "You are not going to, like, become a Hells Angel and then quit and write a book about us, are you?" Plante had his photo taken with the East End chapter to commemorate the event.
That photo would be circulated to all Hells Angels in Western Canada to see if any objected to the new East End recruit being part of the notorious gaxxx.
"They gave me a pamphlet from the world headquarters of Hells Angels, right? You read it and then they took it away," Plante said.
It reminded those entering the program that the Hells
Angels owned all property imprinted with its deathhead logo.
"It was about infringement rights. It said: 'You don't own the vest. The Hells Angels owns the vest.
"'If you leave the Hells Angels, you must return anything that says Hells Angels on it.' " Sergeant-at-arms Tom Gillis told Plante he would no longer be able to wear his favoured long shorts now that he was "on the program."
"After I got in, he said, 'Micheal, we have a dress code. I want you to wear black jeans, black shirts, black vest.' I said, "What about black shorts?' He said, 'No shorts.' "
Plante's elevation to "official friend" was significant for the police investigation. It would give the agent the ability to get closer and closer to club business.
If things went according to plan, Plante would become a "hangaround" next, then a "prospect" and finally a "full-patch" Hells Angel, meaning he could wear the infamous deathhead logo on his back.
AN ARSENAL OF WEAPONS
In the fall of 2004, the RCMP kicked in the door of Randy Potts's wife's home, looking for precursor chemicals they had learned about from calls intercepted in E-Pandora.
Potts, who became a full-patch member that fall, was worried police might soon raid the Fraser Highway mobile home of his mom and her husband, where he had stored the East End chapter's firearms and explosives.
In a conversation captured on wiretap, Potts told Plante to go get a hockey bag and retrieve the guns.
Plante told police what Potts had asked and then headed to a Sport Chek outlet to buy the bag.
"I thought I was picking up a couple of pistols. I didn't know this was the East End arsenal. I always thought it was a myth," Plante said.
When he arrived at the trailer, Potts's stepfather saw the bag and wondered if it would be big enough.
"I go, 'What?! How many guns do you got here?' So we go to the back of the trailer and he opens this thing and starts pulling out machine guns and other stuff. He says, 'Be careful, this one has got grenades.' " Plante couldn't believe the nonchalance of the senior citizen. He immediately called police.
"I said, 'You are not going to believe this. I have got the whole arsenal.' " Of course, police took the guns, which put Plante in a difficult position.
For weeks afterwards, John Punko asked about the guns, saying he wanted to go out and shoot targets.
Plante and police worked up a series of excuses he could give to Punko about why he couldn't get the guns.
"One scenario was that I got them stashed in this guy's house and he is a long-haul driver and I don't got the key," Plante said. "There was one time when me and Punko were driving out to a meeting in Haney and Punko wanted to go try out a couple of those grenades."
Plante said he thought they might blow up prematurely because they had got wet.
Both police and Plante knew he couldn't keep up his ruse with the Angels much longer. Sooner or later, others besides Punko would confront him about the guns.
"Yes, it was getting dicey," said Det. Brad Stephen. "And that's when you love it. That's where the risk is."
Police settled on a scenario to cover the missing guns.
They rented a storage locker in Abbotsford, then bought a gun locker to put inside it. They left the gun locker open, with Stephen's business card on top.
If Potts wanted the guns, Plante was to take him to Abbotsford, then act shocked when it looked like police had raided the locker.
A BEATING BY THE UN gaxxx
A few days after Plante picked up the arsenal, he was downtown at Brandi's strip club on a Friday night with some of his Angel pals, including Ronnie Lising. It was Oct. 16, 2004.
A huge United Nations gaxxx associate, who was 6-foot-9 and 450 pounds, sucker-punched Plante inside the club. None of his HA brethren were in the immediate vicinity to defend him.
"That was my first run-in with the UN guys there," Plante said. UN boss Clay Roueche was in the club that night.
"I was on the program, so I was in the club. Ronnie should have been down there fighting with me," Plante said, referring to Lising.
The fight continued on the street outside, with more UN guys getting involved in the beat down.
"I had a concussion ... I was bleeding out my ear. Even months after, I had ringing in my head."
Plante couldn't get hold of police, either. He felt abandoned by everyone. He holed up at a friend's house and didn't answer his phone for days. At one point, he was going to just get on his Harley and ride away, but the cold October rains made him reconsider. He missed his clubhouse duties, including security at Sunday's church meeting.
"I was tired. I was like worn out. And by this time, my anxiety is getting really bad," he said.
"The cops didn't know where I was ... The Hells Angels didn't know where I was. They couldn't believe I didn't show up for church. So they are looking for me."
http://www.vancouversun.com/Moving+Hells+Angels+ranks/7891665/story.html#ixzz2JU0uyCvm
http://www.bikernews.net/index.cfm/art/Micheal-Plante-becomes-an-%E2%80%9Cofficial-friend%E2%80%9D-in-the-Hells-Angels-program/clb/Hells-Angels-MC/d/news/p/read/newsid/39199
http://www.bikernews.net/index.cfm/art/Part-Three-From-informant-to-key-police-agent/clb/Hells-Angels-MC/d/news/p/read/newsid/39198
http://www.bikernews.net/index.cfm/pt/Inside-the-Hells-Angels-Part-2:-Earning-the-trust-of-the-Angels/d/news/p/read/newsid/39195
http://www.bikernews.net/index.cfm/pt/Micheal-Plante-explains-why-he-infiltrated-the-East-End-Hells-Angels/d/news/p/read/newsid/39185
"It was about infringement rights. It said: 'You don't own the vest. The Hells Angels owns the vest.
"'If you leave the Hells Angels, you must return anything that says Hells Angels on it.' " Sergeant-at-arms Tom Gillis told Plante he would no longer be able to wear his favoured long shorts now that he was "on the program."
"After I got in, he said, 'Micheal, we have a dress code. I want you to wear black jeans, black shirts, black vest.' I said, "What about black shorts?' He said, 'No shorts.' "
Plante's elevation to "official friend" was significant for the police investigation. It would give the agent the ability to get closer and closer to club business.
If things went according to plan, Plante would become a "hangaround" next, then a "prospect" and finally a "full-patch" Hells Angel, meaning he could wear the infamous deathhead logo on his back.
AN ARSENAL OF WEAPONS
In the fall of 2004, the RCMP kicked in the door of Randy Potts's wife's home, looking for precursor chemicals they had learned about from calls intercepted in E-Pandora.
Potts, who became a full-patch member that fall, was worried police might soon raid the Fraser Highway mobile home of his mom and her husband, where he had stored the East End chapter's firearms and explosives.
In a conversation captured on wiretap, Potts told Plante to go get a hockey bag and retrieve the guns.
Plante told police what Potts had asked and then headed to a Sport Chek outlet to buy the bag.
"I thought I was picking up a couple of pistols. I didn't know this was the East End arsenal. I always thought it was a myth," Plante said.
When he arrived at the trailer, Potts's stepfather saw the bag and wondered if it would be big enough.
"I go, 'What?! How many guns do you got here?' So we go to the back of the trailer and he opens this thing and starts pulling out machine guns and other stuff. He says, 'Be careful, this one has got grenades.' " Plante couldn't believe the nonchalance of the senior citizen. He immediately called police.
"I said, 'You are not going to believe this. I have got the whole arsenal.' " Of course, police took the guns, which put Plante in a difficult position.
For weeks afterwards, John Punko asked about the guns, saying he wanted to go out and shoot targets.
Plante and police worked up a series of excuses he could give to Punko about why he couldn't get the guns.
"One scenario was that I got them stashed in this guy's house and he is a long-haul driver and I don't got the key," Plante said. "There was one time when me and Punko were driving out to a meeting in Haney and Punko wanted to go try out a couple of those grenades."
Plante said he thought they might blow up prematurely because they had got wet.
Both police and Plante knew he couldn't keep up his ruse with the Angels much longer. Sooner or later, others besides Punko would confront him about the guns.
"Yes, it was getting dicey," said Det. Brad Stephen. "And that's when you love it. That's where the risk is."
Police settled on a scenario to cover the missing guns.
They rented a storage locker in Abbotsford, then bought a gun locker to put inside it. They left the gun locker open, with Stephen's business card on top.
If Potts wanted the guns, Plante was to take him to Abbotsford, then act shocked when it looked like police had raided the locker.
A BEATING BY THE UN gaxxx
A few days after Plante picked up the arsenal, he was downtown at Brandi's strip club on a Friday night with some of his Angel pals, including Ronnie Lising. It was Oct. 16, 2004.
A huge United Nations gaxxx associate, who was 6-foot-9 and 450 pounds, sucker-punched Plante inside the club. None of his HA brethren were in the immediate vicinity to defend him.
"That was my first run-in with the UN guys there," Plante said. UN boss Clay Roueche was in the club that night.
"I was on the program, so I was in the club. Ronnie should have been down there fighting with me," Plante said, referring to Lising.
The fight continued on the street outside, with more UN guys getting involved in the beat down.
"I had a concussion ... I was bleeding out my ear. Even months after, I had ringing in my head."
Plante couldn't get hold of police, either. He felt abandoned by everyone. He holed up at a friend's house and didn't answer his phone for days. At one point, he was going to just get on his Harley and ride away, but the cold October rains made him reconsider. He missed his clubhouse duties, including security at Sunday's church meeting.
"I was tired. I was like worn out. And by this time, my anxiety is getting really bad," he said.
"The cops didn't know where I was ... The Hells Angels didn't know where I was. They couldn't believe I didn't show up for church. So they are looking for me."
http://www.vancouversun.com/Moving+Hells+Angels+ranks/7891665/story.html#ixzz2JU0uyCvm
http://www.bikernews.net/index.cfm/art/Micheal-Plante-becomes-an-%E2%80%9Cofficial-friend%E2%80%9D-in-the-Hells-Angels-program/clb/Hells-Angels-MC/d/news/p/read/newsid/39199
http://www.bikernews.net/index.cfm/art/Part-Three-From-informant-to-key-police-agent/clb/Hells-Angels-MC/d/news/p/read/newsid/39198
http://www.bikernews.net/index.cfm/pt/Inside-the-Hells-Angels-Part-2:-Earning-the-trust-of-the-Angels/d/news/p/read/newsid/39195
http://www.bikernews.net/index.cfm/pt/Micheal-Plante-explains-why-he-infiltrated-the-East-End-Hells-Angels/d/news/p/read/newsid/39185