Nanaimo Hells Angel jailed 6 years for drug trafficking

An agreed statement of facts outlined in court revealed a former motorcycle gang member in Manitoba agreed to wear a recording wire and work with the RCMP as a confidential agent, while an undercover police officer worked in conjunction with the informant to advance the file.

Several damning informant-captured recordings at Paulsen’s property on Highland Rd. in Campbell River clearly demonstrated his direct involvement in brisk and ongoing drug trafficking.

While accepting a joint sentence recommendation, justice Robin Baird, in trademark fashion, looked Paulsen directly in the eyes while addressing him.

“I gather from the excerpts of intercepted recordings that I’ve just heard that you’ve been in this racket for quite a while Mr. Paulsen. I suspect you’ve known all along that something like this could happen and maybe you thought you’d be one of the lucky ones who never got caught. I hope this makes an impression on you, for what it’s worth, because the likelihood is it’s only going up from here.”

William Paulsen was visibly distraught at times throughout his sentencing hearing as he was jailed for drug trafficking offences. (CFSEU-BC)

The recordings also detailed Paulsen declare his stature as a known, reliable, high-quality drug supplier.

He also expanded on real estate assets he had acquired.

Paulsen shared his long-term vision for his drug trafficking activities with the informant, including how he hoped to broaden his client base and make it more resilient.

Crown Counsel’s Oren Bick said the first time the informant met Paulsen on Sept. 25, 2019 the offender was cooking up crack cocaine for sale in the workshop of his property.

The informant was introduced to Paulsen via former Nanaimo Hells Angel and co-accused Kristopher Stephen Smith, who was booted from the motorcycle club during the police investigation, the agreed statement of facts heard.

Following months of documented drug transactions with the informant, the investigation advanced to a critical juncture in the spring of 2020.

“Investigators conducted intermittent surveillance on Paulsen and saw him in Campbell River meeting with a person who they believed, based on previous interactions, was a courier delivering cocaine to Paulsen from his suppliers on the Lower Mainland of B.C.,” the Crown’s Bick said.

The following month Investigators followed a courier truck from the Tsawwassen ferry terminal to Duke Point on May 24 and and then tracked the delivery truck northward to Campbell River.

As multiple police investigators watched every move, the courier stopped at a Campbell River gas station, where Paulsen parked his Honda Civic directly beside it.

Paulsen exchanged shopping bags with the driver.

En-route back toward Nanaimo the courier truck was pulled over.

Inside the truck hidden compartment was found and a bag opened where over $84,000 bundled in two packages was found, along with a $1,000 payment for the delivery driver.

$84,314 in two packages, along with $1,000 was delivered by Paulsen to a delivery truck driver (CFSEU-BC)

A separate unit of police officers followed Paulsen to his home, boxed him in and arrested him.

$700 cash and a small amount of cocaine were found on Paulsen.

In the vehicle, police retrieved 980 grams of cocaine (87-89 per cent purity) located in a bag.

A search warrant for the home was promptly obtained, uncovering roughly $100,000 cash in the primary bedroom.

A vacuum sealer and money counter were placed on the kitchen table.

In the workshop, 99 grams of nearly pure cocaine was found, along with 905 grams of crystal meth shards and 725 grams of a cutting agent used for cocaine and other hard drugs.

A Hells Angels vest was also recovered in the shop, as was a book titled “Cocaine Handbook: An Essential Reference.”

Notably, the often fatal synthetic opioid fentanyl was not detected in Paulsen’s drugs.

Outside the property’s primary home near set of stairs was a suitcase containing small amounts of cocaine and further 990 grams of crystal meth shards.

Sophisticated drug operation

The Crown’s Bick said Paulsen’s operation was long-standing and that he held a high degree of responsibility.

“He wasn’t acting on behalf of anybody else, he wasn’t, for example a courier or a hired hand. He committed these offences to further his own business enterprise.”

Bick spoke to the sophistication of Paulsen’s enterprise, calling his activities well organized, networked and protected.

He said the evidence showed that Paulsen made considerable efforts to please his customers and that he arranged other people to deliver drugs on his behalf when he was unable to.

“He had regular multi-kilo level or single kilo level delivery coming to him whenever he felt he was going to run out. That way he didn’t have to keep as much stock at any one time.”

The recordings also heard Paulsen express his comfort and reliability with transferring drugs and cash in the mail.

As part of the plea deal, a singular drug trafficking count and an explosives charge were both dismissed.

A lifetime firearms and weapons ban apply to Paulsen, who’s also ordered to provide a DNA sample.

Defence lawyer Richard Fowler said his client is remorseful for his actions and is prepared to face the consequences.

He said Paulsen had a strong academic and prior work history, but said he acquired a significant disability while working as a mining blaster at a Campbell River area operation and formed severe arthritis and is in chronic pain.

As part of the sentencing agreement, Paulsen also forfeited personal property: $100,00 cash, a Honda Civic and drug paraphernalia.

Paulsen faces a separate Civil Forfeiture Act application hearing scheduled for late next May in Nanaimo’s B.C Supreme Court as the province attempts to obtain the Paulsen family home.

The most recent valuation of the 1/3 acre property at 1740 Highland Rd. is $701,000, according to BC Assessment.

“The fact of the matter is that that separate proceeding and the potential consequences of it are having an effect now,” Fowler said, referencing the immense stress the family is under with the uncertainty of their home.

Fowler noted an uncle lives in a home there, noting the property was purchased decades ago by Paulsen’s grandparents.

Paulsen declined to address the court when given an opportunity to speak.

He was led off to jail and gave a wink to his common-law wife and family members, which also included his mother and son.

Paulsen had not been in custody and thus didn’t build up pretrial credit to shave time off his sentence.

The case against Paulsen was part of a broader probe by the Forces Special Enforcement Unit and RCMP’s Federal Serious Organized Crime Unit.

Launched in 2018, the extensive investigation focused on organized outlaw motorcycle gang activity on Vancouver Island.

Co-accused Kristopher Stephen Smith of Nanaimo and William Bradley Thompson of Ladysmith are scheduled to stand trial in B.C. Supreme Court early next year in Victoria.

Sean Oliver Douglas Kendall of Port Alberni received a three-year jail sentence in October 2023.

Nearly a year ago the Nanaimo Hells Angels chapter clubhouse at 805 Old Victoria was demolished after the property and two other B.C. Hells Angels clubhouses in the province were obtained by the B.C. government’s Civil Forfeiture Office following several years of litigation.

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes

Nanaimo Hells Angel jailed 6 years for drug trafficking

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