Helicopter jail escapees get one year behind bars for break
Yves Denis, Denis Lefebvre and Serge Pomerleau also sentenced for trafficking, gangsterism, conspiracy
The three men who escaped from Orsainville Detention Centre near Quebec City via helicopter over the summer have been sentenced to an additional year behind bars for their jail break.
Yves Denis, 35, Denis Lefebvre, 53, and Serge Pomerleau, 49, pleaded guilty to the escape at a Quebec City courtroom Friday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, the three men were sentenced on the original charges they faced at the time of the escape: charges of drug trafficking, gangsterism and conspiracy.
Denis was sentenced to 16 years in prison, while Lefebvre was handed 20 years, and Pomerleau was given 22 years.
Pomerleau was also fined $3.2 million and Lefebvre, $1.3 million. If they do not pay these fines in the next five years, they will have to spend another seven and five years in jail, respectively.
Helicopter escape
The men were imprisoned under the tightest security measures available to the Orsainville jail authorities.
Yet the helicopter was able to land in a yard within the institution’s walls, where it was able to pick up the men and fly them away.
The trio was recaptured on June 22, after police tracked them down at a condominium in Montreal’s Old Port district.
Hells Angels links
The three men were originally arrested in 2010 in a drug bust known as Project Crayfish on several charges, including drug trafficking and murder.
During the bust, police seized multiple weapons, 41 vehicles, a plane, a helicopter and $905,000.
The three are suspected of having ties to the Hells Angels biker gang.