DRUG DEALER DENIES HE WAS KINGPIN

Appeals For Softer Sentence. Gang Gave Students First Hit Of Crack
Free

Bernard Mathieu, convicted of controlling a group of drug dealers who
gave high school students their first hit of crack cocaine free of
charge, made an impassioned speech from the prisoner's box yesterday,
saying he would pay for what he'd done, but not for what he's been
accused of.

Mathieu, who came to Canada from Haiti 27 years ago when he was just
8, said he might have trafficked a few kilograms of cocaine, but was
never the boss of a network of dealers that held Pelletier Ave. in
Montreal North hostage.

He was convicted last month of gangsterism, trafficking in cocaine,
crack and marijuana and conspiracy to traffic, along with several others.

"Not one of the 15 accused (in this case) had the courage to say I
wasn't their leader," Mathieu said during sentencing arguments.

At times crying, Mathieu said almost two years in prison has taught
him that he doesn't belong in the criminal milieu and once out, would
like to work with youth to keep them from entering gangs.

A landed immigrant, he will also fight deportation to Haiti, not for
himself, but for his mother, 74, who sat in the court crying.

Earlier in the day, the court heard from a street-gang expert that
students at Calixa-Lavallee School in Montreal North were given
"juices" - a marijuana cigarette laced with the highly addictive
residue that comes from making crack.

"They think it's just pot, but once they smoke it, they discover it's
much more," said Montreal police Det.-Sgt. Jean-Claude Gauthier.

Mathieu, a smooth-talking businessman, controlled Pelletier for at
least a decade, Gauthier testified, saying the gang intimidated and
frightened residents.

Mathieu's version is that he was respected on the street and often
gave people advice for their problems.

The Crown is asking that Mathieu be given a sentence of between 12 and
15 years.

"Selling drugs at a high school is a violent crime," said prosecutor
Eric de Chamblain.

Defence lawyer Clemente Monterosso argued such a harsh sentence would
be more appropriate for dealers working on an international scale and
would send the message that if you're going to deal, you might as well
go big, because the sentence will be the same. He suggested Mathieu
get between six and eight years.

Jean-Robert Pierre Antoine, who has been out on bail, collapsed on the
stand after he was unable to clarify how much money he'd made for
trips to Ottawa to pick up cocaine. The Crown seeking a nine-year
sentence for him.

Quebec Court Judge Jean-Pierre Bonin is to render his decision
tomorrow.

Earlier yesterday, two members of the gang, Loukens Fevrius, 24, and
Clinton St. Thomas, 30, were sentenced to six years in prison for
trafficking and gangsterism.

Once time already served is deducted, they have two years and three
months left in their sentences.