A well-known Hells Angel and an associate who were caught driving on the outskirts of Salmon Arm with a significant cache of weapons, could ride out the rest of the decade behind bars.
Joseph Skreptak and Corey Montemurro were each handed a five-year prison sentence Tuesday, less time served, for a series of firearms charges related to the Nov. 25, 2010 incident.
“The accused were travelling in a rental vehicle with an arsenal of weapons,” said BC Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton.
In addition to a sawed-off shotgun that was tucked into a shopping bag fit with a hole for the barrel, Betton said Mounties uncovered more guns, bear spray, ammunition, bats, a hickory stick, a cellphone jammer, body armour and balaclavas.
The reason why the men were armed was never verified in court, although, during the trial, Crown counsel Sandra Dworkin alleged they had a plan in the works to menace someone in the Tappen area. Betton didn’t venture into the reasoning for the crime during sentencing, but he did say the items collected “are consistent on a whole with particularly aggravating facts.”
He also noted that Skreptak’s involvement with the Hells Angels was not connected to the particular details of the offence – although his standing with the motorcycle club didn’t help him any, either.
As is the case in sentencing hearings, associates of those before the courts are asked to write in letters of support. Through those letters, both men were said to have strong work ethics and described to be integral to their community of friends and family.
Skreptak also tried to use his affiliation with the Hells Angels as an attribute.
The motorcycle club, his lawyer contended, helps children’s charities and the food bank, and Skreptak was proud to be a part of it.
Betton pointed out that “being in the Hells Angels is not like being a Rotarian” and Skreptak’s membership did not reflect positively on his character.
To illustrate what kind of influence the Hells Angels have on even their closest associates, Betton turned to the pre-sentencing report from Skreptak’s co-accused, Montemurro.
Within the pages of that report, Montemurro was said to be fearful of telling what happened on the night he was arrested because it would put him at risk from the biker gang.
Throughout the trial, Montemurro continually maintained he was not a member of the Hells Angels and, in the sentencing report, he reiterated that point. It said that while he knew some members through going out or being at the gym, he wouldn’t consider them friends.
Regardless of their connections to the biker gang, Betton gave the duo the same five-year sentence, pointing out that, on the whole, they were equally responsible for the crimes committed.
At the trial, Skreptak was the only witness to speak on behalf of defence. He said he had no idea the weapons were in the car. He claimed he was just looking for real estate on the late-night tour through the Interior during a snowstorm.
The trial judge rejected that story.
