Canada - The talk was about pets and respect when the president of the Oshawa Hells Angels was informed by police that a trusted member of his club had worked with police to have him charged with plotting a gangland murder, a Whitby courtroom heard today.
"I have a dog," Mark Cephes Stephenson said in a soft voice to Det. Sgt. Peter Currie of the Biker Enforcement Unit on September 28, 2006, the day he was charged with directing a hitman to murder Frank (Cisco) Lenti of the rival Bandidos club.
Stephenson and Remond (Ray) Akleh are each charged with murder conspiracy and counsel to commit murder for allegedly directing Gault to murder Lenti in the summer of 2006.
Stephenson appeared stone-faced as he heard the charges, and pressed the officer to make sure his pet dog was properly taken care of. He told the officer he lived alone at his property near Sunderland in north Durham County and that there was no one to take care of the pet.
He had little to say of Lenti, other than say that he didn't direct his murder.
"I'm a little beside myself, to tell the truth," Stephenson told Currie in a small interview room near his jail cell in Oshawa. "I didn't instruct anybody to do anything."
He said he had known Lenti for years, back to when they were both members of the now-defunct Satan's Choice club.
"I've known Frank for 25 years," said Stephenson in a soft voice.
He said nothing and showed no emotion when told that Steven Gault of his chapter - nicknamed "The Assylum Crew" - had worked with police officers against him.
Court earlier heard that it was Stephenson who sponsored Gault into the chapter, vouching for him before other members.
The conversation between the biker leader and the police investigator was polite, if reserved.
"I'll try to treat you like a gentleman if you afford me the same respect," Currie said.
"Of course," Stephenson replied.
The trial continues.
Disclaimer: The opinions in this article are solely those of the writer, and may not reflect the beliefs of anyone at Outlaw Biker World.
This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Home
