A 22-year-old Ontario man recently admitted his involvement in the murder of a close associate of organized crime in a crowded restaurant in Laval in the summer of 2022 why he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
• Also read: Shot in a crowded restaurant: Bernard Cherfan's suspected murderer isn't particularly smart
Originally charged with first-degree murder, Jalen Joel Campbell Brown quietly pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter a few weeks ago.
On June 1, 2022, Bernard Cherfan, a leader of a Lebanese organized crime cell, was executed in front of several guests sitting in a restaurant on Boulevard des Laurentides in Laval.
Bernard Cherfan PHOTO FROM NECROLOGUE WEBSITE
Surveillance cameras showed Campbell Brown getting into a Hyundai car in the early morning hours of the day of the murder in London, Ont., the agreed statement of facts says.
He was then accompanied by three other people, whose identities were not revealed in court.
Shot in a crowded restaurant
The four people in the vehicle traveled almost 750 km to get to Montreal in the middle of the afternoon. The shooter, who is not Campbell Brown, then allegedly met a man who handed him a gun.
Then, around 7 p.m., the vehicle Campbell Brown was in began loitering near a Vietnamese restaurant. The scene was fully captured by surveillance cameras outside the restaurant.
The vehicle finally stopped 20 minutes later. At that moment, Bernard Cherfan was killed in the middle of a restaurant.
The relative of the ex-killer Frédérick Silva was “shot in the head with a gun,” we read in the joint statement of facts.
The murder of a close associate of organized crime at a family restaurant in Laval on Wednesday evening shocked victims who witnessed the scene unfolding before their eyes. Screenshot, TVA News
He was shot in front of several customers, including two young children, ages 3 and 7, who had just arrived at the scene, the Journal reported at the time.
The shooter ran out of the restaurant and got into the car, which quickly disappeared from the scene.
During Campbell Brown's plea, it was not explained what his exact contribution was.
Quickly identified
A month after the murder, Campbell Brown was intercepted by Montreal police officers at a hotel in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district for a “reason unrelated to the murder in Laval,” said prosecutor Marie-Philippe Guimond- Méthe.
Campbell Brown has been arrested in connection with a shooting in Toronto that left one person dead and seven injured, including two teenagers, just two weeks after the killing of Bernard Cherfan. He is still imprisoned in the Queen City.
Had he been convicted of Cherfan's premeditated murder, Campbell Brown would have received an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years.
Two other defendants are still awaiting trial in this case.
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