BIKER NEWS -- The fate of a former Outlaw motorcycle gang member, who said he has turned his life around after being arrested in a b...
BIKER NEWS -- The fate of a former Outlaw motorcycle gang member, who said he has turned his life around after being arrested in a biker raid in Niagara more than two years ago, is now in the hands of a local judge.
At a sentencing hearing Thursday in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines, Mario Macedo's lawyer said a 90-day jail term to be served on weekends will suffice for his client, who was convicted of brokering a $47,000 cocaine deal between his drug dealer and the Black Pistons motorcycle club in St. Catharines.
Federal prosecutor Tanit Gilliam, however argued four years behind bars in a federal penitentiary would be a more appropriate sentence.
After listening to summations from both sides, Judge Peter Wilkie said he would render his decision on Feb. 4.
The 46-year-old Macedo, from Everett, Ont., was charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence in November 2013 as part of an investigation called Project Resurgence.
On Nov. 6, 2013, more than 220 police officers from across Ontario executed 30 search and arrest warrants in and around Niagara in a pre-dawn biker raid.
More than 150 charges were laid against 31 people.
Some of the items seized included $70,000 in cash, $150,000 worth of vehicles, marijuana with a potential street value of $18 million, $30,000 in heroin and a variety of weapons.
The investigation began in early 2013 when Niagara Regional Police began investigating the activity of the Outlaws and Black Pistons motorcycle gangs in Niagara.
Court heard Macedo, a member of the Outlaws, was sent to Niagara to supervise the "patch-over" of the puppet club to the parent club.
While staying at the Black Pistons clubhouse on Page St. in St. Catharines, Macedo learned the members were on the search for a new cocaine source as Niagara was experiencing a "dry spell."
Macedo offered to broker a cocaine deal between the gang and his personal drug dealer. Through his connection, the gang bought $47,000 worth of cocaine to the streets of Niagara.
Defence lawyer David Wilcox said his client was a member of the Outlaws for 18 years but has now disassociated himself from the gang and has been "clean and sober" for two years.
He said Macedo should also be given credit for the time he spent in pre-trial custody as well as the 13 months he spent under house arrest after he was released on bail.
The Crown contends a penitentiary jail term is a more appropriate sentence given the seriousness of the crime.
"This court knows all too well that cocaine is a highly addictive substance," Gilliam said.
And, while the rehabilitation of an offender is important, she said "both denunciation and deterrents have a paramount role" in sentencing.
Wilcox agreed that cocaine trafficking is a very serious offence.
"The harm it does in the community is notorious," he told the judge, however his client acted as the "middle man" and did not profit in any way from the drug deal.
This article was first published on November 26, 2015
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