Michael Plante

Michael Dollard Plante (born 6 January 1967) was a police informer within the Hells Angels East End Vancouver chapter. His story was chronicled in the best-selling 2011 book Hell To Pay by the journalist Neal Hall.

Informer Plante was born in North Vancouver, the son of a teacher. He grew up in Vancouver, Revelstoke, Powell River, Chilliwack, New Westminster, and Burnaby. In late 2002, Plante first met Bryce and another Hells Angel leader, Gino Zumpano. According to Plante, O'Hara then told him: "Take him back to Vancouver and get $20,000 from him." Plante told Collins: "I am on the verge of becoming a Hells Angel. I work out with Louie Robinson. You have got my wallet. You have seen that I have a club card with all the contacts on it for East End. I am offering you something better – full infiltration." Plante stated that the comment was taken as an insult. Giles was recorded as joking: "You are not going to, like, become a Hells Angel and then quit and write a book about us, are you?" Plante stated that Jonathan Bryce was promoted up to being a "hang-around" would ensure that he now had to tell orders from him, a prospect that he found unbearable. Plante in turn reply that he engaged in violence under the orders of the Hells Angels. The Crown and Plante answered that he had to commit crimes to earn the trust of his Hells Angels masters. Plante stated that as a bouncer he was not legally allowed to permit someone to drive home drunk, and that there was an occasion when he was working as a bouncer at a bar that he had to order an intoxicated Ghavami not to ride his motorcycle. Plante stated that Ghavami was "acting aggressively" as he insisted that he would ride his way home, and that he was forced to "slap" around Ghavami to stop him. Morrison noted that Plante had often used steroids, which had known to induce aggression known as "roid rage", and accused him of being a steroid addict who behaved in a reckless fashion due to his alleged steroid abuse. Plante replied that he used only one steroid tablet per day and denied that had "roid rage". Morrison made much that Plante had sold methamphetamine as an undercover agent, telling Bolan: "It is not he kind of national police force I want in Canada, when they allow 60 pounds of methamphetamine to go into the Surrey community with no warnings whatsoever to the citizens". Morrison demanded that a Royal Commission be appointed to investigate Plante. At the time, Ghavami was standing next to his lawyer, and when Bolan asked him if he was a methamphetamine dealer, he told her "I guess so, yes". The Crown Attorney, Martha Devlin, defended Plante as she stated in court that under Section 25.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada Plante as a police agent informer was permitted to commit any criminal acts except murder as part of his work as an informer. Devlin told the court: "Michael Plante was committing acts at the direction of the Hells Angels, specifically the East End chapter of the Hells Angels. What we see from the investigation conducted by the RCMP is that it's not the RCMP who consider themselves above the law, but members of the East End chapter of the Hells Angels who consider themselves above the law". Most of the accused were convicted.

One E-Pandora trial that began on 26 March 2007 ended with Lising being convicted of trafficking in methamphetamine and sentenced to four years in prison. On 18 April 2007, Lising was found guilty with Justice Victor Curtis ruling that the evidence presented by the Crown of Lising's guilt was overwhelming. The defense appealed the verdict, claiming that Lising's rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms had been violated by Plante. On 22 June 2007, Justice Curtis dismissed the appeal. Another E-Pandora trial ended on 27 March 2008 with Justice Anne McKenzie convicting Hells Angels associates Richard Rempel and David Revell of trafficking in cocaine, but with her acquitting Giles of trafficking in cocaine and gangsterism. Justice McKenzie ruled that the evidence presented by the Crown against Giles was "weak". The evidence collected by Plante was so strong that three Hells Angels associates, namely Jason Brown, Chad Barrroby and Wissam Mohammad Ayach made plea bargains with the Crown on charges of gangsterism and trafficking in methamphetamine in exchange for lesser prison sentences. Ayach also faced charges of kidnapping and assault on the basis of evidence collected by Plante, which also ended with him being convicted on both counts. The defense lawyers for Ayach hired Dr. Robert Ley, a noted clinical psychologist, who testified: "Ayach was psychologically traumatized by the undercover operation and by the threats, intimidation, assaults and robbery that he claimed Mr. Plante had inflicted upon him". Justice Daphne Smith rejected that defense as she ruled Ayach in the tapes presented by the Crown came across as a "violent gangster" who was not traumatized in the least. Detective Brad Stephen of the Vancouver police stated that Plante was an excellent witness for the Crown, saying: "He did very well in court. They didn't see him coming. All the high-end lawyers in there didn't anticipate he would have the memory he had. They made a fatal mistake in assuming this guy is just a dumb thug. He was a star in the box. In the end, they didn't know how to deal with him."

Chad Barroby also faced charges of selling 26 ounces of cocaine to Plante in October 2004 for $28, 000 dollars, for which he was convicted of and received a light sentence of 18 months of house arrest by Justice Peter Leask. Leask is one of the most controversial judges in British Columbia. Leask's courtroom language is considered to be scandalous and highly inappropriate as he has frequently used the word "fuck" or some variation of it while performing his duties in the courtroom. Besides for his choice of courtroom language, Justice Leask has been accused of having a strong pro-defense bias in cases involving the Hells Angels with a marked tendency to exclude evidence that the Crown wished to present. Likewise, Justice Leask has been noted for his tendency to impose the lightest possible sentences on the Hells Angels that are convicted in trials presided over by him. The Crown Attorneys involved in prosecuting the E-Pandora cases felt that Justice Leask was biased in the favor of the defense and that they would have stood a better chance of obtaining convictions if the trials were presided over by another judge. David Pearse and Kerry Ryan Renaud both pleaded guilty to the E-Pandora charges of manufacturing and selling methamphetamine. Devlin asked for a life sentence on Ryan, but Leask ruled that Ryan was a "relatively rare" criminal who would not reoffend. Leask sentenced Ryan to four years in prison, but gave him credit for time served in jail, which ensured that Ryan served only 28 months in prison. Leask sentenced Pearse to four years in prison, but gave him credit for the time served in jail awaiting his trial and in an unusual move cut his sentence by six months because he had posted bail. Ghavami asked for Leask to dismiss his E-Pandora charges under the grounds that the Crown had taken too long to bring his case to trial. Over the protests of Develin who charged the delays were caused by Morrison, Leask agreed and dismissed all of the charges against Ghavami, saying that the Crown should be ashamed of itself for taking so long to bring the case to trial.

On 13 July 2009 another E-Pandora trial ended with four "full patch Hells Angels being convicted of drug and weapons charges, but acquitted of gangsterism charges. Lising and Potts were convicted of weapons charges. Punko was convicted of weapons charges and of counselling violence on the basis of a tape where he was recorded ordering Plante to burn down a house in Surrey. Violette was convicted of beating a drug dealer, Glen Louie, as part of an extortion bid and of weapons charges. Violette received the longest prison sentence of those convicted in Operation E-Pandora, namely six years in prison, as he was convicted of a violent crime. In November 2009, the defense counsel asked for Justice Leask to "estopped" (stop from proceeding) the E-Pandora charges against the Hells Angels East End chapter as an institution for gangsterism and criminal conspiracy as the Crown alleged that the Hells Angels were a criminal organization that masqueraded as a motorcycle club. On 27 November 2009, Leask estopped the charges against the East End chapter, writing: "My decision is the Crown is estopped from leading evidence that the East End chapter of the Hells Angels is a criminal organization". Leask refused to give his reasons for his decision, which he said he would provide in writing at a later date. Leask told Develin that she should negotiate plea bargains with the last of the Hells Angels facing E-Pandora charges. Devlin reached plea bargains with both Punko and Potts. On 7 December 2009, Punko pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and sell methamphetamines; selling five kilograms of cocaine; and possession of the proceeds of crime totaling $387, 140 dollars while Potts pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and sell methamphetamines; trafficking in cocaine and possession of the proceeds of crime totaling $264, 300 dollars. On 12 March 2010, Leask sentenced Potts to one year in prison and Punko to 14 months of prison as he ruled Plante was the real criminal and that Potts and Punko were abused as mere "pawns" by the police agent Plante. Leask's sentences imposed on Potts and Punko as well his stated reasons for doing so caused much controversy at the time with many accusing Leask of being biased in favor of the Hells Angels.

Plante has since changed his name and now lives in hiding. In 2018, he testified for the Crown at a civil forfeiture case where the province of British Columbia sought to seize three clubhouses belonging to the Hells Angels in East Vancouver, Nanaimo and Kelowna as the proceeds of crime. Plante testified that the Hells Angels were not a motorcycle club, but rather a criminal organization that posed as a motorcycle club. Plante denied that he was a "rat", telling Boland in 2013: "I wasn't a rat. They were not my friends. I wasn't friends with any of them. I was doing a job. I wanted to leave a legacy. I wanted to do something significant in my life. I never bartered or sold myself to the RCMP for money. That was the HA's angle."

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