HELLS ANGELS GOING AWAY FOR A LONG TIME

Pair Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison. Pleaded Guilty to Murder
Conspiracy, Trafficking Cocaine From Colombia for Bikers

Saying society cannot tolerate a criminal gang that murders to achieve
its goals, a Superior Court judge yesterday sentenced two members of
the Hells Angels to the harshest penalties rendered after a massive
police roundup of the bikers.

Michel Rose, 48, a member of the Nomads chapter, and Andre Chouinard,
44, who left the gang in 2000, were each sentenced to the equivalent
of 22 years in prison. These are the longest sentences handed out to
about 20 Hells Angels members who have pleaded guilty to charges laid
after Operation Springtime 2001.

"The court should send a clear message to the accused that their
conduct is unanimously condemned by the whole of society, which will
not tolerate structured, organized crime groups that ignore the law
and impose violence," Justice Gilles Hebert said.

The men were considered key suppliers of cocaine and hashish to the
Nomads' drug network. The two pleaded guilty to conspiring to murder
rival gang members between 1995 and 2001, drug trafficking, conspiring
to traffic in drugs and participating in gang activities. They also
pleaded guilty to importing 4,100 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia
in 2001. At least 1,700 kilos were smuggled through the United States
via Miami, Fla.

With time served, Rose will have 16 years left on his sentence;
Chouinard will have 20. They will have to serve at least half their
sentences behind bars before they are eligible for parole.

Hebert said because Rose and Chouinard admitted to smuggling drugs
through both the U.S. and Colombia, they should receive harsher
sentences than the 20 years other Nomads members received last fall
when they pleaded guilty in a megatrial.

Rose's lawyer, Claude Girouard, said he had little doubt his client
was better off by pleading guilty in Canada, rather than face
extradition to the U.S.