Man accused of assaulting mob leader’s family involved in halfway house drama

One of the two men charged this week with breaking into the home of Montreal Mafia leader Francesco Del Balso and assaulting his family was recently involved in a strange incident at a halfway house that left his parole officers wondering what he was up to.

Details on what happened are contained in the written summary of a decision the Parole Board of Canada made on Jan. 30. Marc Laflamme Berthelot, 33, became aggressive when, on Oct. 25, 2016, a specially trained dog sent into the halfway house where he was residing sniffed out a contraband iPhone in his room. Laflamme Berthelot was serving a four-year sentence for having led police on a reckless high-speed chase, and he apparently didn’t want authorities to find out what was on his phone.

“After (the iPhone was found), you headed to the office of your (parole officers) with the goal of recovering it and you were aggressive in your demands,” the author of the summary wrote.

Despite the fact the phone was considered contraband inside the halfway house, Laflamme Berthelot called the search “an abuse of power.” His parole officers had difficulty calming him down, the summary says.

When the phone was searched, it became apparent why Laflamme Berthelot was so upset. Authorities found a photo of a firearm and other photos “linked to the Hells Angels.” They also found he had the phone numbers of a man who was also on parole and another man known to be involved in drug-trafficking.

When questioned about the phone, Laflamme Berthelot told his parole officers he wanted it back so he could listen to music. He also claimed the two known criminals on his contacts list were men he planned to get in touch with when his sentence expired.

One of the conditions of his release from a penitentiary required that he have no contact with criminals. The parole board revoked his release in January and his sentence expired sometime in March.

On Saturday, Laflamme Berthelot and David Cormier were in a car that was pulled over by Laval police responding to a report of the invasion at Del Balso’s home in Laval’s Vimont district. Del Balso wasn’t home at the time, but his wife and two of his sons were.

When the car was pulled over, at an exit connecting Highway 440 to Highway 13 in Laval, the two men were arrested. A dog that emerged from the car was shot by police.

Cormier was scheduled for a bail hearing on Wednesday, but the hearing was pushed back to next week.

Laflamme Berthelot’s bail hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

Both men face a long series of charges related to the home invasion. They’re alleged to have assaulted Del Balso’s wife and one of his sons. They’re also charged with pointing a firearm at the woman and both of Del Balso’s sons.

According to the Journal de Montréal, the two men who carried out the home invasion asked for Del Balso when they stormed inside.

Between 2002-06, the RCMP learned that Del Balso was an aggressive young leader in the Rizzuto organization. He’s still serving a 15-year sentence as a result of the investigation dubbed Project Colisée.

Following the home invasion, he was arrested for having breached one of the conditions of his release and will likely be returned to prison.