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| Daniel "Johnny" Royer |
| Daniel Royer, called "Johnny," was born in the late 1950s. He either became a full-patch member of the Hells Angels in 1991, when the Satan's Guards became the Big Red Machine's official Trois-Rivieres chapter, or sometime in the early 1990s. On Decemember 23, 1994, six members and two prospects of the Hells Trois-Rivieres chapter left Quebec with their wives and children for a month long vacation in Acapulco, Mexico. Among them was Johnny Royer, as well as Louis "Mélou" Roy, Sylvain "Baptiste" Thiffault, and Claude "Macho" Giguere. |
| When Trois-Rivieres chapter president "Mélou" Roy left the group to form the Hells Angels elite Nomads chapter on June 24, 1995, Royer replaced him as the Trois-Rivieres faction's new leader. Johnny Royer and "Mélou" Roy pleaded guilty to not paying their income taxes between 1990 and 1993. According to reports, Royer should have declared $160,063 during those years, while Roy should have declared $189,879. The two bikers were ordered to pay their back taxes and were each fined $20,000. On March 28, 2001, Royer was among the over one hundred Hells Angels members and associates charged in Opération: Printemps 2001, the largest biker bust in Canadian history. He was charged with gangsterism and drug trafficking. He and five others pleaded guilty to various charges stemming from the bust on October 17, 2001. Among the government's evidence was a document that showed that Royer had purchased 78 kilos of cocaine. Judge Jean-Pierre Bonin sentenced him to eight years in prison, with the condition that he'd have to serve half of his term before being eligible for parole. Police charged 19 bikers - three Hells Angels, six Satan's Guards, and ten associates - with various charges, including gangsterism and narcotics trafficking, on March 12, 2002. Money, documents, and small quantities of drugs were seized in the raids. Royer, already in prison, was among the accused. The two other Hells Angels charged were Francois Bergeron and Bernard Ploudre, both of the Trois-Rivieres chapter. |