Lockdown lifted at Drummondville penitentiary

Man connected to Rock Machine reportedly died of an overdose

Life at a federal penitentiary in Drummondville returned to relative normalcy on Thursday after the end of a lockdown ordered Sunday following the death of an inmate.

A thorough search of the Drummond Institution, a medium-security penitentiary, was ordered after Jonathan Payeur, 32, an inmate with known ties to the Rock Machine biker gang, was found dead. Correctional Service Canada (CSC) has declined to say how Payeur died, but a report by Le Journal de Montréal, citing anonymous sources, stated he is believed to have died of an overdose.

A spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec told the Montreal Gazette the death is not considered a homicide “because it did not involve another person.”

CSC issued a release on Thursday afternoon announcing the end of the lockdown and that visits to the institution have resumed.

“Since Sunday, unauthorized items and contraband have been seized,” the statement said. “The items seized included prescribed medication, approximately six grams of unidentified illicit substances, two grams of tobacco and one gram of hashish.”

Payeur, a resident of Ste- Sophie, began serving a three-year sentence on Aug. 11, 2017. He received the sentence at the St-Jérôme courthouse after pleading guilty to several charges filed following his arrest by the SQ as part of an investigation into a drug-trafficking network that distributed fentanyl in Ontario.

He pleaded guilty to criminal harassment, failure to comply with a probation order, possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, possession of an unauthorized firearm and theft.