FIRST ANGEL GETS BAIL TILL DRUG TRIAL

One man accused of being a low-level courier for the Hells Angels got
bail yesterday while a second stayed behind bars.

The two are the first of 122 bikers and suspected drug-dealers
rounded up last month to ask to be let out while awaiting trial.

Quebec Court Judge Francois Doyon let Jean Adam out after hearing
evidence the Montreal man was seen only once delivering $100,000 to
pay for drugs bought from the Nomads, the elite Hells chapter run by
Maurice (Mom) Boucher.

But the judge refused bail to Dominique Tremblay, who was caught on
police video surveillance making numerous money dropoffs to the same
place. He delivered more than $1 million, police say.

The three-day bail hearing heard that Tremblay, 26, was a runner for
the Hells chapter in Trois-Rivieres.

Neither man had criminal records.

Prosecutors had advised defence lawyers the two men were test cases.
What happened to them would affect the other 50 people charged solely
with drug crimes.

Might Be Appealed

Prosecutor Jean-Claude Boyer said Adam's bail could be appealed.
Boyer said letting out people involved in such a huge drug network
will tarnish the public's image of the justice system.

"They should be detained because they work for a criminal
organization," he said. "In fact, that criminal organization is the
organization that controls the drug trade in Quebec."

The Hells' deadly war with the rival Bandidos over control of the
drug trade in the province is responsible for all these new anti-gang
laws being passed, he added.

Boyer's office was hoping to keep all 50 people charged in Montreal
with drug offences behind bars. Another 40, charged with first-degree
murder for their alleged parts in 13 killings, will almost surely be
refused bail because the charges are so serious.

Boyer said his office will decide next week what to do about Doyon's
decision to let Adam out. "This decision sends a hopeful message to
those with no criminal records and whose participation in the crimes
is sporadic," he added.

A Surete du Quebec investigator has testified the Nomads controlled a
billion-dollar-a-year business that distributed cocaine and hashish
to all the other Hells chapters in the province.