A lawyer bails out of 18 months in prison for having helped a murderer

Archival Photo Chantal Poirier
Dimitrios Strapatsas

Frederique Giguere

Friday, 9 February 2018 15:23

UPDATE
Friday, 9 February 2018 15:23

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A montreal lawyer has been punished with a sentence of 18 months in prison for having helped a murderer to reveal the identity of an informer, but he could well spend the weekend.

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The criminal lawyer Dimitrios Strapatsas has received his sentence this afternoon, but, since he had already appealed the judgment rendered against him, his lawyer will file on Monday an application to release him.

“Considering that it was released during his trial, I have good reason to believe that my application will be accepted, pending the proceedings in appeal,” said mr. Nicholas St-Jacques exit of the courtroom.

Although he did not flinch, Strapatsas didn’t appear to be happy to be handcuffed by the special constable before his colleagues shortly after the pronouncement of his sentence.

Now suspended from the Bar, the lawyer was convicted of obstruction of justice last October at the palais de justice of Montreal. The history dates back to the spring of 2015, when the lawyer represented John Boulachanis in his trial for murder.

Furious to learn that an informer with information incriminating to her about was going to testify against him, Boulachanis wanted to intimidate her. His plan: publish the video of his interrogation on YouTube, so that his identity had to be protected to ensure its safety.

As he was behind bars and had no access to the internet, the murderer had in mind to use the spouse of a fellow-prisoner to put the video online.

Dimitrios Strapatsas has served as an intermediary in remitting $ 200 to the woman, and the plan worked. The video, however, was quickly removed from the web when the girlfriend of the fellow-prisoner of Boulachanis has realized the gravity of his gesture.

“I have done nothing that, according to me, would be illegal”, was defended Strapatsas at his trial.

The criminal lawyer, known for defending the son of the former head of the Hells Angels Maurice “Mom” Boucher, has filed an appeal last November because he was dissatisfied with the decision of the magistrate Marc-André Dagenais.

“The trial judge believed the version [of the prisoner], despite the fact that he is a witness crazy,” says Strapatsas in the application filed before the highest court of the province.

It also accuses the judge Dagenais of having “omitted” the details that could have helped justify, and not have concluded that he was innocent.