Jean-Paul ‘Donat’ Ramsay, a veteran biker in the province of Quebec had passed away last Thursday (12/12/2024) of natural causes. A life long biker from the get-go, taming the well-oiled iron horse in his teens and joining Victoriaville’s ‘Speed Crazy MC’ in 1970, well before the Hells Angels in Quebec were founded. His tenure in the Speed Crazy MC lasted until1976. Right up until the MC called it quits.
Ramsay’s passion for motorcycles and being in a club did not dissipate but had rather stuck with the man throughout the turn of the decade. Right up until 1984, when he began prospecting for the famed Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, gaining his full membership throughout 1985. A tried and true member outlasting several rough decades with the club surviving scrutiny from authorities and the Quebec Biker War.
In 2004 authorities set forth the final steps in an investigation which led to 29 search warrants in residences and businesses. An operation which would include nearly 400 police officers and take place in Laval, Montreal and Monteregie. It was targeted towards the HAMC and its south shore support club the Evil Ones MC. It had started only six months after 2001’s Operation Springtime. 7 HAMC members were arrested, in which one of them was Jean-Paul Ramsay, and one Evil Ones MC member had also been arrested. Authorities believed the Evil Ones had the reins on drug trafficking in the area after several members of the HAMC and the Rockers were incarcerated after Operation Springtime.
In 2009, authorities launched the infamous Operation SharQc arresting 156 individuals. This display from authorities would have the courts dealing with accused individuals until September of 2016. The operation clearly had its sights on the HAMC, with a total of 111 of the individuals arrested being members of the motorcycle club. Nearly a third of those arrested would be liberated. Ramsay would run out of luck and plead guilty in March of 2015 along with 17 other co-defendants to a murder conspiracy charge which would land him 11 years and 10 months.
Ramsay was already locked up, giving him 5-6 years of ‘time-spent’. He would later be spotted in December of 2015 celebrating the 38th anniversary of the HAMC. Certain members of the motorcycle club would later sue the state for close to 100$ million. Ramsay was one of those members, hoping to get 3,090,000$ of the pay-out. They claimed the state had been unfair with the club, hiding evidence and having their rights violated by prosecutors.
James Burton, the judge in the Superior Court for this case released 31 individuals in May of 2011 due to the court process taking too long. The process had been going on for 2 years. In October of 2015, he released 5 other suspects accused of murder. 6 years in. He deemed the process too lengthy and an abuse of power. In the end, only 2 were sentenced for murder. Throughout 2011, certain journalists would reveal the fact that James Burton had ties to Normand ‘Casper’ Ouimet through a construction business. A high-standing HAMC member who was sentenced to 27 years throughout Operation SharQc. Ouimet was recently released in September of 2023.
In May of 2021 Ramsay’s son, Jessy Ramsay-Koch would be arrested and accused after a search and seizure from an investigation launched in 2019 by the Regional Mixed Squad (ERM; Escouade Regionale Mixte) in Drummondville. Accused of gangsterism, and drug trafficking along with 5 other individuals, one of which was Steven Collard. Collard was a member of Devils Ghosts and later the Red Devils MC. He was also the son of a HAMC member.
‘Donat’ Ramsay was present at Martin Robert’s wedding in December of 2018. It was after this event that crime journalist, Felix Seguin had reached out. Seguin recalls his conversations with the HAMC veteran in an interview with TV personality Mario Dumont. He states that Ramsay was a super-sympathetic figure that he wouldn’t envision him being in a 1% motorcycle club, riding Harley-Davidsons, but rather riding a Honda Goldwing.
