| Désormeaux was suspected of playing a role in a series of Montreal arsons. The biker supposedly showed underlings $15,000 in cash and told them he wanted it to “burn” in his area. He offered to pay $1,500 for every Hells Angels-controlled bar that was burned down. There were so many fires within the next few months that police had to meet with leaders of the Rock Machine/Bandidos to tell them to quit it.
Authorities claim the gang was burning down bars in an attempt to wrestle control of the drug market from the Hells Angels, who had been hit hard in March 2001, when police arrested more than 100 of the gang’s members and associates. The Rock Machine/Bandidos operations in the province were crippled in June 2002, when police targeted over 60 of the gang’s members and associates in a series of raids across Quebec and Ontario. Among those charged were Désormeaux, Salvatore Cazzetta, Jean Duquaire, Serge "Merlin" Cyr, and Alain Brunette. Police raided a Rivieres des Prairies house, where they say Désormeaux had a marijuana growing operation. In the home, they found 400 marijuana plants. Police also seized $117,000 in Canadian money and $11,000 in U.S. funds. In June 2003, Désormeaux was sentenced to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that included attempted murder, drug trafficking, and gangsterism. Désormeaux was suspected of playing a role in the March 2002 attempted slaying of Steven "Bull" Bertrand, often described as a close friend of Hells Angels leader Maurice "Mom" Boucher. Rock Machine/Bandidos member Patrick Henault walked to a sushi restaurant where Bertrand was eating with friends and fired six shots into Bertrand. Désormeaux and another Bandidos member allegedly acted as lookouts on the hit. Little did Désormeaux and Henault know that the other Bandido involved was an informant and had tipped off police. Oddly however, police did not intervene before Henault committed the shooting. Because they were tipped off, police had used a hidden video camera to record the bikers planning the hit and disguising themselves. After the hit, Henault sought refuge in an apartment. He and the informant were arrested hours later as they left the building. Henault later cooperated with authorities and became a witness against his former gang. |
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| André Désormeaux, born in the 1960s, has been described as an important member of the Rock Machine/Bandidos gang in Montreal. Before that, Désormeaux was labelled as a member of the Dark Circle. He, along with Jean "Le Francais" Duquaire, was described in news reports as being a godfather of the Palmers, a Rock Machine puppet gang formed in 2000.
In January 1996, Désormeaux was sentenced to 38 months in prison for his role in the attempted murder of senior Hells Angels member Normand "Billy" Labelle. He wasn’t alone either as a dozen or so others linked to the Dark Circle pleaded guilty to similar crimes. |
| André "Dédé" Désormeaux |