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The Supreme Court of Canada has decided to hear a case involving four people who were convicted of laundering dirty money for members of the Hells Angels based in Quebec and then saw those convictions quashed on appeal last year.
The case against former notary Richard Felx, 63, Michel Ste-Marie, 75, and his children Dax, 45, and Marie Ste-Marie, 47, dates back to 2009, when they were arrested in Operation Diligence along with Hells Angels Normand (Casper) Ouimet, 51, and Martin Robert, 46. The Sûreté du Québec-led probe investigated how members of the biker gang infiltrated specific segments of the province’s construction industry.
Mélanie, Michel et Dax Ste-Marie and a fourth person, Richard Felx, were found guilty in 2016 of conspiring to launder the proceeds of crime, money laundering and of committing an offence for the benefit of a criminal organization.
The Quebec court found there had been unreasonable delays but refused to order a stay of proceedings, a decision overturned last September by the Quebec Court of Appeal, which ordered a stay.
In July 2016, the Supreme Court issued what is known as the Jordan ruling, establishing strict time limits for legal proceedings.
The trial of the four co-accused was heard before the Jordan ruling was rendered. Charges were laid in 2009 and the trial judge calculated that the trial concluded in March 2016 a 77-month delay.