Gilles Vaillancourt appears in court for preliminary hearing

GillesVaillancourtappeared in a Laval courtroom today to face corruption-related charges.

The former mayor of Laval kept his distance from reporters as he walked into a packed courtroom on Tuesday.

• Profile|'King of Laval' dethroned: Vaillancourt quits as mayor
• Vaillancourtsays he's not guilty of corruption

Vaillancourtappeared along with about 20 other accused. They are all among 37 people who were arrested in May 2013 in a raid carried out by Quebec's anti-corruption squad.

The allegations they face surfaced at the Charbonneau inquiry into corruption in the province's construction industry.

Vaillancourt,who was the mayor of Laval for 23 years, is facing 12 charges including conspiracy, fraud, influence peddling, breach of trust and gangsterism.

Full house

The large courtroom was packed. There were about 30 defence lawyers who sat on one side, while more than 20 accused sat on the other.

The preliminary inquiry is expected to last eight weeks.

Crown prosecutor Richard Rougeau said he believes the case will proceed on time in spite of the heavy caseload.

"We are five prosecutors who will work on this case full-time in the final weeks. I think the file is on track to proceed quickly and efficiently," Rougeau said.

Of the 37 people arrested in the 2013 raids, one man Robert Cloutier has since died.

Some of the accused were not in court because they asked to be excused, and four others asked to waive their right to a preliminary hearing and to go straight to trial.

Rongeau said Vaillancourt and two other defendants will have to be in court every day of the preliminary hearing because they are accused of a more serious charge gangsterism, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The Crown will call five main witnesses to testify.

Details of that testimony cannot be reported because of a publication ban.