Richard "Dick" Mayrand |
Richard Mayrand was born in 1964. He was nicknamed "Dick" and followed his older brother Michel "Willie" Mayrand into the Hells Angels North chapter. He received his colors in his very early twenties. He was present at the now infamous March 24, 1985 slaughter at the Sherbrooke chapter's Lennoxville clubhouse. Mayrand and others were held at gun point while members of the organization's Montreal and Halifax charters brutally murdered five North members. Mayrand's brother Michel was among the casualties. With the annihilition of the Hells North chapter, Mayrand became a member of the club's Montreal chapter. When his brother's body was |
pulled from the St. Lawrence river, Richard didn't attend his funeral service in Asbestos, Quebec. On September 1, 1985, Mayrand and Montreal chapter president Réjean "Zig-Zag" Lessard were stopped by a police officer as they roared down a street on a stolen motorcycle. Two firearms and a silencer equipped, all priorly reported stolen, were found in their possession. He was then arrested in possession of 52 500 capsules of LSD, worth an estimated $250 000 on the streets. He was pronounced guilty of drug trafficking on March 6, 1987 but had the conviction overturned in June 1989 after Judge Gerald Girouard concluded that the prosecutors' evidence relied solely on the testimony of informants Clermont Paquet and Gerry "Le Chat" Coulombe. "Dick" remained a member of the Hells Montreal chapter until 1997 or 1998, when he transfered over to the club's Nomads charter. This move symbolized the influence and power Mayrand holds in the organization. Mayrand, who had avoided newspaper headlines since the 1980s, was arrested along with fellow Nomads Gilles "Trooper" Mathieu, Denis "Pas Fiable" Houle, Normand Robitaille, and Michel Rose, prospects Luc Bordeleau and Jean-Richard Lariviere, and Rocker Kenny Bedard on February 16, 2001. The bikers had gathered at the Holiday Inn on Sherbrooke street with pictures of several of their Rock Machine rivals. Mayrand was arrested along with Bordeleau as they left the hotel to retrieve the cars. Both had firearms on them. The others, who were also armed, were picked up inside the building. In order to avoid gangsterism charges, the group pled guilty to illegal firearm possession on February 21, 2000 and each received one year prison sentences. On March 29, 2001, Mayrand, who is the club's national president, was informed, from behind bars, that he was being charged with murder, narcotics trafficking and gangsterism as part of Opération: Printemps 2001. His trial is set for October 29, 2001 and, if convicted, could spend the rest of his life in prison. |