Last fall,Brian Jeffrey, the sergeant-at-arms of the Simcoe Chapter of the Hells Angels, pleaded guilty to trafficking four kilograms of cocaine, with a purity of 88 to 91 per cent, but adamantly denied that his biker club is a criminal organization.
At a hearing attended by family, friends and Hells Angels members, Ontario Superior Court Justice John McMahon sentenced the ailing tow truck supervisor to nine years in prison, less six months for pre-trial custody and his stringent bail conditions. Jeffrey's wife cried out in anger at the result."Do you think I can see him before you take him away for 10 years?" she angrily asked the court officers as they led away her handcuffed husband, who walks with a cane.Despite his credentials as a good family man with a dated criminal record, a lifetime of steady employment and contributions as a father figure to an abused 11-year-old girl, the fact that Jeffrey sold cocaine was certain to "cause havoc" in other families, the judge said. The judge found otherwise, and on that basis yesterday tacked 3 1/2 years onto what would have otherwise been a 5 1/2-year sentence. "It was a good day for the Crown and police," prosecutor Tom Andreopoulos said outside court.Jeffrey portrayed himself as a benign family man, but he is not, just as the Hells Angels are not "good ol' boy motorcycle enthusiasts," Andreopoulos said. Jeffrey will likely have to serve two-thirds of his sentence before he is paroled, Andreopoulos said.