Montrealer who took part in mafia attack is back behind bars

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A man involved in the murder of a close associate of mafia leader Raynald Desjardins has found himself back behind bars after breaching his statutory prison sentence by hanging out with known criminals in a bar.

The Parole Board of Canada voted last week to revoke Kevin Tate’s statutory release. He is serving a 15-year sentence for his role in the Jan. 22, 2013, murder of Gaétan Gosselin, a man who was killed as the Rizzuto organization faced its most serious challenge to its leadership within the Montreal Mafia. Desjardins appeared to have sided with a group opposed to people loyal to the Rizzuto organization retaining its leadership role. Gosselin was Desjardins’ business partner and longtime friend.

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When he confessed to participating in the plot to kill Gosselin, Tate admitted that he had followed the target for two days, but claimed that he did not know who Gosselin was or why he was watching him. The killing spree appeared to have been ordered from Toronto by Harry Mytil, a street gang leader who was murdered in his Laval home three months after Gosselin’s murder.

Tate was automatically eligible for statutory release in May 2023. Nearly all offenders in federal prisons in Canada are eligible for release after serving two-thirds of their sentence, if they have not previously been granted parole. The Parole Board of Canada ordered Tate to reside in a halfway house after his release. That condition was lifted in January, and weeks later the problems began.

In February, he traveled outside a geographic limit imposed on him by the parole board, but he explained that he only went to a municipal courthouse to settle a ticket. In April, Tate was caught with marijuana in his home, but it was his trip to the bar that led to his parole being suspended.

“In early June 2024, while police were conducting surveillance at the club where you were found, you were seen in the company of criminals known to law enforcement,” the parole board wrote in its decision to return Tate to federal prison. “When you saw law enforcement, you attempted to flee but were subdued. You were not transparent with law enforcement and repeatedly changed your version of events.”

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One of the people Tate was seen talking to is described as having ties to a motorcycle gang. Another person who was in the club at the time is described as being a member of another criminal organization. Among the many conditions imposed on Tate’s release last year was that he not have ties to known criminals. Another condition prohibited him from entering bars.

Tate, who has had past ties to the BoGars and Unit 44 street gangs, claimed he did not know the biker and was unaware the other man had ties to organized crime.

“You indicated that you had no interest in interacting with these types of individuals, given the thousands of dollars in contracts hanging over your head. However, your version of events does not match the information provided by the police officer who arrested you. The information indicates that you were in a cage with seriously criminalized individuals,” the parole board wrote.

According to an earlier parole decision in Tate’s case, police officers from the Sûreté du Québec came to the prison in September 2022 to inform him that his life was in danger.

He is serving his second sentence for murder. In 2005, he was sentenced to three years in prison for manslaughter. In 2003, he was in a bar with a friend when a fight broke out with another group of people. He picked up a gun and fired a shot, but the bullet ricocheted and killed his friend.

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