Bikers’ sentencing delayed by Indigenous connections claim

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The former president of the local Outlaws biker club won’t be sentenced until the court learns more about his past.

Specifically, his Indigenous connections.

Ryan (Big Red) Daigneault, 48, and fellow biker Daniel (Tattoo) Bell, 37, were supposed have their sentencing hearing Wednesday in London after they pleaded guilty in February to two counts of trafficking in cocaine and one count of transferring or offering to transfer a handgun. They were charged as part of a police biker enforcement sweep in March 2021.

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An agreed statement of facts filed with the court at the time of their guilty pleas described how both men were duped by a police agent posing a prospective Outlaw who sold Daigneault thousands of dollars of high-quality cocaine and equipped him with a gun.

The sentencing hearing had been scheduled for months. However, Daigneault’s defence lawyer Alexandra Mamo asked the case be adjourned until there could be a fulsome investigation into comments Daigneault made to the author of his pre-sentence report about his connections to the Indigenous community.

“I received some information that has led me to believe that the Gladue principles may be applicable to Mr. Daigneault,” she told Superior Court Justice Spencer Nicholson.

The Gladue principles instruct judges to take into consideration an offender’s Indigenous relationships as part of the sentencing decisions, because of systemic factors, intergenerational trauma from the residential school system, and the over-representation of Indigenous offenders in the incarcerated population.

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It’s not clear exactly how this applies to Daigneault, a mountain of a man, who has been in custody since his arrest and is facing a hefty prison sentence. Mamo said there is no clear definition of “Indigenous offender” in the Criminal Code or in case law, but she pointed to comments made that Daigneault “identifies with the Indigenous community.”

She said Daigneault “consistently partakes in their practices and tradition since he was a teenager” and has spent time living on the reserve. Daigneault can also “point to family members who have married into his family who are of Indigenous descent and had an impact on his upbringing,” Mamo said.

“It may very well be that he actually does have blood lineage to Indigenous ancestries. That’s why it’s been so ingrained in his upbringing, but he, like many offenders, are not aware of the full extent of it,” she said.

Even if he doesn’t have a blood relative, Mamo said a Gladue report could be prepared and the principles applied “given his very close connection to the Indigenous community.”

Those comprehensive reports take time and there is a wait of at least five months in the London area for a full report to be finished. But Mamo said she spoke to a representative from an Indigenous-based group that is assisting in  programming at the jail where Daigneault is housed who could interview Daigneault and offer an opinion in a letter if a full report is necessary.

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Even though all parties are anxious to complete the criminal matter, Mamo said, there is a “potential prejudice to Mr. Daigneault” if there are relevant Gladue factors and a proper report isn’t prepared.

But assistant Crown attorney Kristina Mildred initially opposed the adjournment, and pointed out to Nicholson what exactly is at issue.

The pre-sentence report said Daigneault was raised by an Indigenous relative. That was a step-mother who didn’t come into his life until later in his youth and at the time Daigneault had a “sporadic” relationship with his father.

He said that he lived in an Indigenous community, but not in the last 25 years, Mildred said. And, he lived with his mother for his first 14 years.

Mildred didn’t disagree with Mamo’s description of when the Gladue principles apply but “the concern here is that the evidence before us raises some concerns for the Crown as to whether it would in these circumstances.”

She suggested, and Nicholson agreed, to adjourn the case until next month to make preliminary investigations into Daigneault’s Indigenous connections and perhaps be in a position to decide if he needs a full Gladue report work-up.

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Bell’s defence lawyer Robert Farrington didn’t oppose the adjournment and told Nicholson he preferred Bell be sentenced at the same time as Daigneault. His client has been on bail for three years and is enrolled in a trade school. The Crown and the defence have a joint sentencing submission for Nicholson to consider.

Nicholson said he didn’t want the case “to languish” but allowed the adjournment, adding that there might be “a potential error” if he didn’t allow the Gladue principles to be explored.

He ordered the report, “if appropriate,” and scheduled the case come back on July 17 for an update.

jsims@postmedia.com

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