Due to delays in bringing the case to trial, the court dropped all charges against the Ontario Hells Angels regarding links to a multimillion-dollar illegal sports betting ring. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Delaying the trial leads to decision-making
Something that investigators widely fear has happened in Ontario. Due to a trial delay, the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJO) has dismissed all charges against members of the county’s Hells Angels chapter in connection with an illegal betting operation.
The charges were withdrawn from the two indictments.”
“All charges in the two indictments have been withdrawn,” Judge Bruce Dorneau, a member of the High Court of Justice’s High Court of Justice, announced in court Wednesday. Criminal attorney Craig Bottomley, who represented one of the defendants in the Hills Angels case, took to Twitter to reflect on his successful day in court:
Bottomley’s agent, Craig (Truck) McIlquham of Oakville, faced charges including “possession of a restrained weapon, making books, and committing a crime for a criminal organization”.
The dismissal from the court is a major blow to the multi-jurisdictional police case Project Hobart. In 2019, a collaborating Canadian law enforcement operation made more than 30 arrests and made a switch in the business of an illegal sports betting ring linked to Hells Angels gangsters that is believed to have raised $131 million (US$101 million) in over five years.
Other angels implicated in the case include Ontario strip club owner Robert Barletta and Eugenio (Geno) Reza.
Time is running out
according to CTV Toronto News, a criminal case typically has 18 months to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice and 30 months to appear in court in a SCJO. Exceeding these time frames, the defense can ask the judge to drop the charges.
At its current rate, it is estimated that the case will advance in the courts in 41 months, a full 11 months above the constitutional ceiling. The Ontario Public Prosecutor’s Office could only stop a case if exceptional circumstances, such as the complexity of the case, proved to be the case.
But Crown prosecutors, on Wednesday, cited an unreasonable delay as a reason to throw the charges. “These decisions were not reached easily,” Anil Kapoor told the court on behalf of the crown. according to the starCrown noted that the COVID-19 pandemic is a delaying factor in a “complex case involving multiple defendants and huge amounts of disclosure documents.”
A comprehensive and effective investigation. “
Despite the final decision, prosecutors praised the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) for conducting a “thorough and effective investigation.”
Fee dropped, property returned
When the attorney general’s office made the arrests in 2019, it announced the seizure of assets worth over C$12 million ($9.29), including C$1.7 million ($1.3 million) in cash, seven residences, supercars, and illegal weapons. Legal, jewelry, and precious metals at discounted prices. About 630,000 Canadian dollars ($487,588), as well as 1.2 million Canadian dollars ($93,000) in financial accounts.
according to the starThe accused will now receive their confiscated property again.
Hells Angels Bottomley’s attorney summed up the mood at his client’s camp on Wednesday. “Of course we are very happy […] The prosecution is dead.”
