In his decision of June 20, the administrative judge Guillaume Brien Statue that Martin Lagacé, who was sentenced several times in the past for drug trafficking, could not establish that he had changed his life.
On the contrary, the man would always be active in the world of narcotics and would use his business on the main street is “especially the money laundering”.
“Would it be in the public interest to issue a license to a company whose sole shareholder and manager has a long criminal involvement, in particular with organized crime, which has a heavy criminal record for narcotics and who has not been able to prove to have rehabilitated?” Asks the Régie court.
No, he replied, while recalling that “obtaining an alcohol license is a privilege and not a right”.
“Drug trafficking is a social scourge which leads to a certain increase in violence, different criminal groups trying to take control of this lucrative market by all possible means.”
“The public is a direct victim of all this criminal violence caused by drug trafficking.”
Nothing to blame
It was not possible to reach Martin Lagacé on Tuesday, and the dextartare was closed.
To his last conviction, in 2018, the man had received 41 months in prison for possession, distribution and drug trafficking.
In the past, he has also been convicted of importing cocaine, drug production and negligent storage of a firearm.
In his request to the Régie, the owner of the Dextartare said that he had nothing to blame himself for, otherwise he “would not have made the alcohol license in his name”.
“He testifies that he was honest and that he believes in social reintegration,” said the decision.
Mr. Lagacé also said that “Farnham is a small village and that if he was doing something illegal, he would be arrested”.
Asked about his sources of financing for the opening of his business, he however gave “nebulous” answers and provided any document to explain his income.
No witness also came to support his statements.
“Designated place”
In its decision, the Régie court stresses that according to the SQ, Martin Lagacé is still involved in drug trafficking and that his trade opened in Farnham last January would be “a place designated for drug transactions”.
In the past, it has been involved in this traffic in Abitibi-Témiscamingue under the authority of a “biker outlaw” and would still be today in the Mont-Laurier and Mont-Tremblant sectors.
“His involvement in crime is not a simple youth error or a journey error,” said the Régie court. His multiple criminal convictions establish rather than crime is inscribed in his adult lifestyle. ”
“The court must refuse to issue a permit if it judges that the provision of the permit is contrary to the public interest or is likely to undermine public security or to harm public tranquility.”
Martin Lagacé “did not know how to prove, in a preponderant manner, to have reintegrated socially”.