Gerald Ward (biker)

Starting in 1965, Ward had 23 convictions for fraud, weapons, drugs, property and violence offenses.[2][1] He came to be the prime drug dealer in the Niagara Peninsula for the Magaddino family of Buffalo, New York.[2] Ward was tried for murder three times and attempted murder once, and was acquitted all four times.[3]

In the summer of 1997, following the murder of Johnny Papalia, the long-time boss of the Papalia family of Hamilton, Ward was contacted by the Hells Angels national president Walter Stadnick for what the police call a "crime summit".[4] One police officer, Shawn Clarkson, of the Niagara Falls Police stated: "There was nobody to stand up to the Hells Angels the way [Carmen] Barillaro or Papalia would have. Papalia, even though he was 73 when he died, he wouldn't have put up with that".[3] Ward was not an outlaw biker and did not even know how to ride a motorcycle, but he agreed to work for the Hells Angels.[2] Len Isnor, the chief of the Ontario Provincial Police's Anti-Biker Enforcement Unit, stated: "Ward was never a biker. But Stadnick said, 'You're a Hells Angel now', and so he become one pretty quickly".[2]

In the summer of 1998, Standick and the entire Hells Angels chapter from Sherbrooke arrived in Niagara Falls for what the police call a crime "summit" with Ward.[3] Ward had been buying his cocaine from the Magaddino family of New York, and was considered to be the most powerful drug dealer in the Niagara peninsula.[2] The Hells Angels' Sherbrooke chapter is known as one of the most violent in Canada, and Stadnick taking the entire Sherbrooke chapter with him to Niagara Falls is believed to have been an act of subtle intimidation on his part.[3] It was agreed at the "crime summit" that henceforward Ward would only buy his drugs from the Hells Angels, thereby establishing Angels' influence in the Niagara peninsula.[3] Clarkson stated: "I don't think (Ward) really wanted to do it, but I don't think they gave him a choice. It was either... he joined up, or the Hells Angels would bring in ten guys from Quebec to do it. That would be the last thing he'd want."[3] Clarkson described the Ward gang as: "These guys were what I guess you call the criminal elite".[3] Although Ward and his gang did not formally become an Angels chapter until 2000, to all intents and purposes the Ward gang were a part of the Angels from 1998 onward.[3]

Ward and his gang formally joined the Hells Angels on 29 December 2000 in a ceremony in Sorel, Quebec.[5] Also joining the Hells Angels were two of Ward's subordinates, Kenneth "Wags" Wagner and Tim Panetta.[5] The Ward gang became the Niagara County chapter of the Hells Angels.[5] In the spring of 2002, Ward opened up the clubhouse of his chapter at 855 Darby Road.[5] The guest of honor at the opening ceremony was to the surprise of many Mario Parente, the national president of the Outlaws.[5] Clarkson stated: "Parente and Skinny go back years. They had known each other forever. When Parente showed up, a lot of the younger guys were upset. But he was Skinny's friend, so there was nothing they could do about it".[5]

After formally joining the Hells Angels, Ward had to learn how to ride a motorcycle.[6] Ward was close to having a monopoly of the cocaine trade in the Niagara peninsula and was well known in underworld circles for the high quality of his cocaine, which attracted drug dealers from all over Ontario, seeking to buy from him.[7] The cocaine Ward sold was between 81-90% pure.[7] The police estimated that Ward was responsible for about 75% of all the cocaine sales in the Niagara peninsula.[5]

David Atwell, a Hells Angel turned police informer, described the Hells Angels' Niagara chapter under the leadership of Ward as being the richest Hell Angel chapter in Ontario.[8] Ward would break up a kilogram of cocaine and sold 2,000 half-grams at $40 dollars per shot.[5] Ward operated out of a fortress-like clubhouse at 855 Darby Road in a rural district outside of Wellland.[7]

After Stadnick was arrested as part of Operation Springtime in March 2001, the new Hells Angels national leadership was a duumvirate that consisted of Ward together with the North Toronto chapter president Billy Miller.[9] In July 2002, Ward and Miller put an end to a biker war that had brewing in London, Ontario by reassigning the Coates brothers away from London.[9] Starting in August 2005, Ward began to sell cocaine to Steven Gault, the treasurer of the Angels' Oshawa chapter, who was secretly a police informer.[7] During his visits, Ward talked frankly with Gault about his business, saying his chapter was supposed to have at least six members as required by the Angel rules, but in fact had only three members.[5] Besides for Ward, the Niagara chapter consisted only of Kenneth Wagner and Tim Panetta.[5] Ward told Gault: "I'd like to put good, more good guys around, but fuck, it's hard to find good guys".[5] To avoid being expelled from the Hells Angels, Ward had to borrow three members from other chapters, namely Jason "One Eye" Meyer of the Peterborough chapter; Johnny Cane of the Kitchener chapter, and Donny Bachenski of the Hamilton chapter, to keep the Niagara chapter up to the six men rule.[5]

Due to the information provided by Gault, Ward was arrested on 28 September 2006 as part of Operation Tandem.[10] Ward pleaded guilty to the drug charges on 26 September 2008 while denying the gangsterism charges, insisting he was acting on his own.[11] On 12 December 2008, Ward was found guilty of the criminal organization charges as the court accepted the Crown's argument that Ward was selling drugs on behalf of the Hells Angels.[11] One Hells Angels biker, Lorne Campbell, expressed admiration for the way that Ward refused to testify against the other Angels, saying: "He stayed solid. He got an extra 9 years after three in the bucket, but he stayed solid".[12] On 26 March 2009, Ward was sentenced to 14 years in prison.[11] In sentencing Ward, Justice John McMahon described Ward as one of the "top" drug dealers in Ontario, describing him as being at the "pinnacle" of a drug dealing network that spread across Ontario.[13] In March 2015, Ward was released on parole.[1]

• Atwell, David; Langton, Jerry (2017). The Hard Way Out: My Life with the Hells Angels and Why I Turned Against Them. Toronto: HarperCollins. ISBN 1443450405.
• Edwards, Peter (2013). Unrepentant The Strange and (Sometimes) Terrible Life of Lorne Campbell, Satan's Choice and Hells Angels Biker. Toronto: Vintage Canada. ISBN 9780307362575.
• Langton, Jerry (2010), Showdown: How the Outlaws, Hells Angels and Cops Fought for Control of the Streets, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0470678787