Â?Life can be very cruel at times...I hope this provides closure because this has been a very long and painful journey for all of you. I truly am very sorry.Â? Pierre Montpellier
Pierre MontpellierÂ?s words of remorse for the grief heÂ?s caused so many fell on deaf ears.
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Â?Once a con artist, always a con artist,Â? said one of the 30 of 128 former clients of MontpellierÂ?s who showed up in court Wednesday when the disgraced former financial adviser finally admitted his guilt in stealing more than $5.37 million from former clients.
Â?Do you believe that...he hasnÂ?t changed, heÂ?s still trying to con people,Â? said OPP Sgt. Leon Jenkins outside the courtroom following MontpellierÂ?s prepared 10-minute speech.
Justice Louise Gauthier sentenced him to two years in a federal penitentiary on top of 31 months Montpellier has spent in pre-trial custody.
Jenkins was the lead investigator and spent the past five years gathering evidence against Montpellier. He was also the arresting officer who returned Montpellier to Canada in handcuffs after arresting him in England in late 1998.
Despite his words of remorse and formal apology, Montpellier still tried to convince those in the courtroom he had a European backer willing to bail him out of his financial mess in Sudbury before things fell through.
As assistant Crown attorney Diana Fuller made clear in her submissions to the court, there was never any overseas backer and Montpellier never intended to invest clientsÂ? money overseas.
Â?As God is my witness, my intentions were always sincere,Â? said Montpellier. Â?That being said, it doesnÂ?t excuse what I did was wrong. I accept my responsibility and I accept its failure.Â?
Montpellier insisted when he first started collecting money to invest, he had only the best intentions and never planned to steal from anyone.
Â?Life is truly a paradox...and your best intentions can conjure up the worst results,Â? he said.
He did apologize for hurting so many people.
Â?There is great, great sadness and tremendous embarrassment and to say that IÂ?m remorseful would be a gross, gross understatement,Â? he said.
The embarrassment and shame heÂ?s brought to himself and his family will Â?haunt me for the rest of my lifeÂ?Â? he said.
Â?I assure you if I could turn back time I would turn it back in a heartbeat...words canÂ?t explain how sorry I am.Â?
Montpellier ended his address saying he hopes his jail sentence and end of the case will help victims get on with their lives.
Until the facts were finally revealed in court last week, there were many people who thought Pierre Montpellier had stashed away his stolen money.
A forensic audit clearly indicates otherwise. He Â?simply spent it allÂ? as assistant Crown attorney Diane Fuller told the court.
Not only did Montpellier spend lavishly on himself, but members of his family also benefited.
His father Gaston was given more than $191,000 and a company he owns was given another $19,000, the forensic audit shows.
The payments made by Montpellier to his father ranged from $1,000 and $5,000 and continued on a weekly and bi-weekly basis for two years.
At WednesdayÂ?s sentencing hearing, defence counsel Norm Williams insisted MontpellierÂ?s father Â?had no idea what was going on and did not
participate in any wayÂ? and no members of MontpellierÂ?s immediate family knew about his illegal activities.
While admitting his son did pay him in excess of $200,000, Gaston Montpellier testified under oath it was money his son owed him after regularly lending him money for more than a decade.
The forensic audit determined Montpellier turned over $235,000 to his parents, $100,000 to one sister and paid for the insurance and lease payments on luxury automobiles for family members.
Montpellier also leased a Mercedez Benz and Lincoln Nagivator for himself.
Fuller told the court Montpellier regularly rented the executive suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto at $2,700 a night and supplied Â?a seemingly endless supply of Dom Perignon champagne at $150 a bottle.Â?
Montpellier spent in excess of $825,000 paying off personal credit cards and a line of credit and another $850,000 as a down payment on a luxury Ramsey Lake home.
He regularly purchased $3,000 Georgio Armani suits from Harry Rosen menÂ?s wear in Toronto and spent $206,000 at one downtown Sudbury clothing shop.
Montpellier used clientÂ?s money to purchase $60,000 in office furniture.
Montpellier spent $400,000 alone in bank service charges, court heard.
He spent more than $108,000 sponsoring minor sports teams and other organizations and paid just under $300,000 to two advertising firms.
He also spent $58,000 on such expenditures as golf tournaments, memberships and other clothing purchases.
When all was said and done the forensic auditor could not account for Â?about $100,000Â? of the $5.37 million Montpellier admitted to stealing, said
Fuller.
His defence counsel was paid by legal aid.
