Bank-robber faces dangerous offender designation

Career criminal involved in 2016 Mile End heist

A career criminal who forced the closure of several streets in Mile End after he and a woman held up a bank two summers ago was convicted Thursday on all of the charges he faced even though his accomplice swore under oath that he did not take part in the heist.

Alain Ste-Marie, 47, of Dorval, acted as his own lawyer during a lengthy trial that began in December.

On Sept. 2, 2016, he and a woman named Geneviève Dallaire, 36, of Montreal, robbed a Toronto-Dominion Bank branch.

They tried to make a getaway that ended in a messy car crash. Dallaire was arrested at the scene while Ste-Marie was arrested hours later.

On Aug. 29, Dallaire pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery, wearing a disguise to commit a crime, armed robbery and other related charges. She received an overall prison term of 30 months.

She testified during Ste-Marie’s trial and claimed he wasn’t the one who held up the bank with her. She said a man named “Capone” was the real culprit.

On Thursday, Quebec Court Judge Guylaine Rivest said much of the other evidence presented at trial suggests otherwise.

That evidence includes how Ste-Marie’s DNA was recovered from inside a cap found near a taxi the couple tried to use to make their getaway.

“The court is convinced, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Dallaire told a story that does not hold water by using a fictional person named ‘Capone’ to draw away from the accused’s implication,” Rivest wrote in her 24-page decision.

Because of Ste-Marie’s lengthy criminal record, prosecutor Geneviève Boutet asked that he be evaluated as a potential dangerous offender before he is sentenced. The designation could end in an indeterminate prison term for Ste-Marie when he is sentenced.

Ste-Marie said he objected to being put through the evaluation and vowed to fight the process all the way through.

“I have never asked to be evaluated by a psychiatrist who works for the Crown. I’m not that crazy,” Ste-Marie said.

The case returns to court in June.