DEAD MAN IDENTIFIED AS DRUG DEALER

Fugitive A Victim Of Double Homicide; Moved To Montreal Area From
Winnipeg As Part Of Plea Bargain To Be Near Ailing Wife

A Winnipeg drug dealer with ties to the Hells Angels who moved to
Montreal a year ago as part of a plea bargain has been identified as
a victim of a double homicide in the Laurentians.

Two men's bodies were discovered by a hunter on Friday in St. Adolphe
d'Howard inside a sports utility vehicle on an isolated road. Someone
had tried to set the vehicle on fire.

The Surete du Quebec confirmed yesterday one of the victims was
Franco Sebastian Nucci, 45, who moved to the Montreal area from
Winnipeg to be near his ailing wife. Nucci was preparing to serve a
seven-year sentence at a federal penitentiary in Quebec.

The other victim was identified as 33-year-old Martin Dubreuil.

Nucci had previous ties to Walter Stadnick, a member of the Hells
Angels Nomads chapter in Montreal. Stadnick, along with most of the
other members of the Nomads, is currently serving a 20-year prison
sentence he received in 2004 for his role in Quebec's biker gang war.

In 1998, Nucci filed a complaint against the RCMP, alleging he was
approached by two Mounties who tried to coerce him into becoming an
informant. A story published by the Winnipeg Free Press at the time
quoted an unnamed RCMP officer who said it was Nucci who requested the meeting.

Nucci arranged to plead guilty to trafficking in cocaine during 2001.
The plea agreement allowed Nucci the time to open a restaurant on St.
Laurent Blvd., which was to be run by his relatives here. He was free
on a $10,000 bond while his case was pending.

During an RCMP investigation in early 2001, Nucci was caught selling
half a kilo of cocaine to an uncover officer. A man he conspired with
to sell the cocaine received a 10-year prison term in Winnipeg.

According to court documents, transferring the case to Montreal was
part of the plea agreement because Nucci's lawyer could not get
assurances from Correctional Service Canada that he could serve his
time at a penitentiary near Montreal if he pleaded guilty in Winnipeg.

Nucci's wife is from Montreal and was ill with cancer. After he
arrived in Quebec, Nucci moved to a town close to a federal
penitentiary north of Montreal.

He pleaded guilty at the Montreal courthouse on Feb. 25. He was
supposed to be sentenced that day but arranged to push his sentencing
date back to April 29, claiming he had to see a medical specialist
for his own personal health problems.

However, he failed to show up for the sentencing hearing and the RCMP
put out a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest.

The Surete du Quebec would not say how Nucci and Dubreuil were
killed. According to one police source, the pair were shot.