| Serge "Pacha" Boutin |
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| Serge Boutin was born in the mid-1960s and became the father of 10 children by the time he was 35 years old. According to Allo Police, he became associated with the tough Pelletier Clan, whom operated in Montreal's east-end. Over the years, Boutin amassed convictions for numerous crimes, including theft and narcotics trafficking. When the war erupted between the Rock Machine and the Hells Angels in 1994, Boutin sided with the latter and soon became a member of the Rockers Montreal Chapter. Boutin worked closely with Paul “Fon Fon” Fontaine, a Hells Angels Nomads Chapter prospect, to allegedly run the cocaine and |
| marijuana markets in Montreal’s Gay Village. Boutin ran a veritable empire, with approximately 100 pushers working under him, distributing as many as 200 kilos of cocaine a year. He and Fontaine, Boutin would later claim, cleared between $5,000 and $10,000 every week in profits. Boutin also ran up to eight after hours bars, where alcohol, drugs, and video-lottery machines were offered, and prostitutes rented rooms to operate their trade. In May, 1997, Boutin and 10 others appeared in court on charges of conspiring to murder Hells Angels leader Maurice “Mom” Boucher. The charges against Boutin would be dropped due to lack of evidence. Later that year, Boutin’s close ally Paul Fontaine went into hiding, after police issued a warrant accusing him of the murders of prison guards Diane Lavigne and Pierre Rondeau. Another of Maurice Boucher’s reputed lieutenants, Normand Larochelle, would allegedly become his new partner, Boutin would later claim. Fontaine’s family would allegedly receive at least $1,000 a week from the Rocker's operation. On February 3, 2000, Boutin, Mario Barriault, and Claude Deserres, an underling whom the Hells Angels learned was cooperating with police, drove up north to a chalet. Boutin said he wanted Deserres to show him a marijuana growing operation he had in the house’s basement. As Deserres entered the basement, Boutin saw a gloved hand clutching a firearm order Deserres to his knees. Boutin closed the door and he and Barriault headed back to Montreal. Deserres’ body was discovered the next day in a snow bank in Notre-Dame-de-Merci, near Saint-Donat. Police found that the recorder they had given Deserres had remained undetected by his killers. What they heard on the cassette was shocking: Deserres’ murder had been recorded. Less than two weeks later, on February 16, police arrested Boutin and Barriault and charged them with Deserres’ murder. Boutin would later say he only learned of the murder when police arrested him. On March 28, 2001, Boutin and over 100 Hells Angels and associates from across the province were accused of a series of crime in Opération: Printemps 2001. Boutin was charges with several murders. Two months later, Boutin decided to put the outlaw biker life behind him. He told authorities he wanted to cooperate and was quickly escorted from his Bordeaux prison cell. But he wouldn’t be alone: his close friend and Nomads prospect Stéphane Faucher, as well as Stéphane Sirois, would also turn informant. Boutin was among the informants – which included Stéphane “Godasse” Gagné - who testified at the murder trial of Hells Angels leader Maurice “Mom” Boucher. Boutin claimed that after Gagné had turned informant, he had met Boucher to discuss the matter. Boutin claimed the biker boss said “We are all going to be arrested.” Boutin also testified that Paul “Fon Fon” Fontaine, one of Canada’s most wanted men, was still alive and hiding in luxurious resorts around the province. Boutin claimed to have accompanied Fontaine’s wife and children to a meeting with the fugitive in Quebec City. Boucher would be convicted. On October 12, 2001, Boutin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and gangsterism. He was sentenced to life in prison, with the obligation to serve seven years behind bars. |