Hells Angels member prohibited from wearing colours

MONTREAL — A founding member of the first chapter the Hells Angels established in Canada is not allowed to wear any clothing or jewelry bearing the notorious biker gang’s symbols or colours while he is out on a statutory release.

Michel Langlois, 74, was one of the founding members of the Hells Angels’ chapter set up in Canada in 1977. He was a member of another biker gang called the Popeyes that was selected to become the Hells Angels Montreal chapter.

According to a recent decision by the Parole Board of Canada, Langlois remains a member of the world’s most notorious outlaw motorcycle gang but he claims he considers it a group that merely loves riding motorcycles, not a criminal organization.

Langlois is serving a four-year sentence for drug trafficking. He was previously turned down for parole and will automatically qualify for a release when he reaches the two-thirds mark of his sentence this month.

The parole board is limited to imposing conditions on a statutory release.

As part of an investigation into how Langlois and other Hells Angels ran drug trafficking rings in various parts of Quebec, he was found to have levied a tax on the sale of narcotics sold by other people. That included 177 ounces of cocaine and more than 290,000 methamphetamine tablets. He and other members of the gang were arrested in April 2018.

According to the summary of a decision made by the board on June 28, Langlois is prohibited from “wearing and/or displaying colours (emblems and/or distinctive signs) of your group (Hells Angels), or the colours of the criminal organizations associated with it, as well as any other element/effigy (used to) support this organization and avoid places where they might unite.”