A 38-year-old St-Léonard resident who was being sought by Ontario police in connection with the murder of a Hells Angel near Toronto last week turned himself in to the Montreal police over the weekend.
Joseph Pallotta made a brief appearance before a judge at the Montreal courthouse on Monday, a day after he surrendered himself to Montreal police officers at the north operations centre early Sunday morning.
Pallotta appeared via a video linkup with a detention centre and he was informed that he will likely be transferred quickly to a courthouse in Brampton, Ont., where he is wanted on a warrant alleging he was part of the fatal shooting of Michael Deabaitua-Schulde, a 32-year-old Hells Angel with the gang’s Niagara chapter. The victim was shot near a commercial plaza in Mississauga on March 11.
Pallotta is charged with first-degree murder in the case but he might also face a gangsterism charge and another count alleging he set fire to the getaway vehicle used in the shooting.
He was placed under arrest on a warrant that allowed the Montreal police to hold him for six days but, according to what defence lawyer Serge Lamontagne said in court, the Peel Regional police were in Montreal and were waiting for the judge to sign a document that would allow them to bring Pallotta across the provincial border for a court appearance on Tuesday.
Pallotta said nothing during his very brief court appearance.
He and two other Montreal residents have been charged in connection with Deabaitua-Schulde’s death. Last week, Marckens Vilme, 28, of the Pierrefonds borough was also charged with first-degree murder and Brandon Reyes, 24, of Montreal, was charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder.
In December, a judge in Valleyfield issued a warrant for Pallotta’s arrest after he failed to show up in court in a case where he is charged with identity fraud and using, possessing or trafficking a forged document.
His criminal record includes convictions for marijuana trafficking, in 2003, and the unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm, in 2004.