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Mafia

Montreal Mob boss fails to have situation lifted as sentence nears finish

By Frank S. Crawford

  1. News
  2. Local News

Desjardins is serving a sentence for his role in the plot to kill Mafioso Salvatore Montagna. The sentence expires in June.

Author of the article:

Paul Cherry  •  Montreal Gazette

Published Feb 01, 2023  •  Last updated 11 hours ago  •  2 minute read

Join the conversation Raynald Desjardins, seen in a file photo, argued that the crime he was convicted of had nothing to do with financial gain and he feels the condition that he turn over all his financial information to be unfair. Raynald Desjardins, seen in a file photo, argued that the crime he was convicted of had nothing to do with financial gain and he feels the condition that he turn over all his financial information to be unfair. Photo by Photo courtesy Radio Canada

Montreal Mob boss Raynald Desjardins has failed in his effort to prevent Correctional Service Canada from knowing all about his business as the sentence he received six years ago, for his leading role in the plot to kill Mafioso Salvatore Montagna, nears its end.

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Last September, Desjardins qualified for a statutory release, for a second time, on the sentence he was left with on Dec. 19, 2016 after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. On that day, he received an overall 14-year sentence, but when the time he had already served was factored in he was left with a 78-month prison term.

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Montagna was killed on Nov. 24, 2011 in an ambush after he was summoned to a meeting at a house in Charlemagne, a town just east of the island of Montreal. The Crown’s theory in Desjardins’s case was that he and Montagna were involved in a conflict over who should take control of the Montreal Mafia after the Rizzuto organization had been weakened.

The plot to kill Montagna began after someone tried to kill Desjardins in Laval on Sept. 16, 2011. The shooter missed and, at the time, Desjardins and several other men were being investigated in a drug-trafficking probe led by the RCMP. As part of the investigation, the RCMP managed to intercept encrypted messages exchanged between the men. The messages revealed Desjardins believed Montagna was behind the attempt on his life and that he sought revenge.

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Desjardins’s sentence will expire in June. But when he was about to reach his statutory release date last year, the Parole Board of Canada imposed five conditions that he is required to follow in order to avoid being sent back to a federal penitentiary.

Desjardins appealed the condition that requires that he: “Provide all required financial information regarding your income, expenses, deposits and all banking, financial and real-estate transactions at the satisfaction of your parole supervisor.”

He argued that the crime he was convicted of had nothing to do with financial gain and he feels the condition that he turn over all his financial information to be unfair.

On Tuesday, the parole board’s appeal division decided the condition is necessary.

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“The information on file indicates that for the majority of your adult life you were very well situated in the world of organized crime and that you are still considered an active associate of organized crime,” the board wrote in a summary of its decision. “The sentencing judgment of the Superior Court of Quebec dated Dec. 19, 2016 notes that your original (conflict) was the ‘state of the war over power or the succession of the possible godfather of the Mafia in the Montreal metropolis.’ Moreover, the court noted that the reason for the conspiracy to commit murder was the search for power or profit.

“Your criminal history and underlying offences of the current sentence are related to your involvement in the world of organized crime. One of the main objectives of a criminal organization is to commit offences for its financial benefit.”

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  1. Raynald Desjardins, left, and Felice Racaniello exit the Joliette courthouse, north of Montreal on Wednesday December 21, 2011.

    Mob boss Raynald Desjardins will soon be a free man again

  2. Raynald Desjardins (left) and Salvatore Montagna formed an ill-fated alliance that culminated in the November 2011 hit on Montagna.

    Montreal Mafia: Secret messages tell the story behind a high-profile killing

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Frank S. Crawford 1026 posts 0 comments

Mother's maiden name is Wilson, Love to write about Montreal and the life I have here! Amazing city with amazing food! I love to write and so I give time to this website!

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