Court stops bid to deport B.C. Hells Angels

Delay in case of Carlo Fabbiano, member of elite Nomads chapter, was ‘abuse of process,’ judge rules

A federal court has stopped a bid to deport an Italian-born Hells Angel from B.C., saying the government violated his rights by delaying the case for years.

Carlo Fabbiano, a 57-year-old member of the elite Nomads chapter of the B.C. gang, has lived in Canada since 1963.

He got involved in the Hells Angels in the 1990s, a recent Federal Court of Canada decision in his case noted.

And he was convicted of drug trafficking in 1999, receiving a one-year conditional sentence. I t was only when he applied to become a Canadian citizen a decade ago that Fabbiano got a letter from the Canada Border Services Agency “informing him that, as a member of a criminal organization, he might be inadmissible to Canada,” Judge James O’Reilly said in his Dec. 15, 2014 ruling.

Fabbiano, who co-owns homes in Vancouver and Coquitlam, made submissions in 2007 about why he should be allowed to stay in Canada, where he has a spouse and four Canadian-born children.

He heard nothing else about his status until 2013, even though government officials had decided years earlier that his case should go to an admissibility hearing — the first step in getting someone removed from the country.

When the biker learned the case against him was proceeding, he filed his federal court challenge, arguing that the delay in the case constituted an abuse of process.

He also claimed “the proceedings are abusive because they were commenced as a form of reprisal for his refusal to act as an RCMP informant.”

Judge O’Reilly agreed Fabbiano had been mistreated, saying if the government really considered the biker a risk to Canadians, they would have moved more quickly.

“In my view, Mr. Fabbiano’s entitlement to a fair hearing has been infringed by delay. He has lost the opportunity to present relevant evidence,” O’Reilly said.

“The integrity of our justice system has been compromised as a result. As things stand, a long-term permanent resident, with a minor criminal conviction 15 years ago, will be removed from Canada and separated from his family, without proper consideration of the pertinent evidence.”

The CBSA has filed an appeal but would not comment Monday since the case remains before the court.

In a similar case, another longtime Hells Angel born in Scotland was deported in December 2011.

Mark Alistair Stables, 49, had lived in Canada for more than 40 years and been an Ontario HA member for nine when another Federal Court judge ordered him sent back to Scotland because of his membership in the gang.

Fabbiano confirmed in his submissions to the court that he is a member of the Hells Angels in B.C.

“However, there was no evidence that Mr. Fabbiano actually furthered any criminal activities of the Hells Angels,” Judge O’Reilly said.

Fabbiano said he’s worked legitimately as a carpenter since 1975 and also runs a small glass business.

His lawyers argued that he would not be able to find work in Italy, as he had only visited once as a teenager, didn’t speak Italian and has no relatives there.

“His removal from Canada would have a seriously adverse impact on his remaining family members, including his elderly parents who would not be able to visit him in Italy,” they said.

O’Reilly said that “for a person such as Mr. Fabbiano, who has lived in Canada for more than 50 years and has raised a family here, these proceedings obviously involve potentially drastic consequences for him and his relatives.”

Unlike Fabbiano, Stables had no criminal record in Canada, but held executive positions with the HA including treasurer for the Ontario chapters and a local sergeant-at-arms. He told the court he quit the gang in December 2009.

The inadmissibility proceedings against him began after he arrived at Vancouver airport in November 2006 and was found to be carrying Hells Angels paraphernalia and related phone numbers.

The immigration officer who interviewed him wrote a report of inadmissibility, which led to an immigration hearing, a 2010 deportation order and an unsuccessful Federal Court challenge in 2011.