Hells Angel Ren Charlebois still on the lam

Quebec provincial police are still searching for escaped convict Ren Charlebois, the Hells Angel whofledfrom Monte St-Franois, a federal prison in Laval, Que., on Saturday night.

Guards discovered the 48-year-old prisoner was missing during their nighttime head count.

Charlebois was a member of the high-ranking Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels and was serving a sentence for, among other things, killing police informant Claude De Serres.

Charlebois was picked up in 2001s Operation Springtime, along with Maurice Mom Boucher, who is said to be a close associate of the escapee.

According toCorrectional ServiceCanada, Charlebois was serving an indeterminate sentence for second-degree murder, as well as serving time for conspiring to commit murder, trafficking narcotics and other illicit substances and participating in a criminal organization.

The Nomads dont exist anymore, but in the hierarchy of the Hells Angels, hes still one of the top [people], said DanielRenaud, a journalist who follows organized crime for La Presse.

Questions of why a dangerous criminal serving a long sentence was in a minimum-security institution began swirling when news of his escape broke.

Sgt. Benoit Richard of the Suret du Qubec said its up toCorrectional Service Canada to determine where to place prisonersand not the police.

Serge Abergel, spokesman forthe correctional service, said prisoners assessed as being a low risk to the general population are placed in minimum-security institutions.

Abergel said they arelaunching a national board of investigationto respond to ''concerns related to this escape.''

Guy Ouellette, theLiberal MNA for Chomedeyandformer SQ officer in the Wolverineanti-biker gang squad, said he believes this escape raises questions about the level ofcustody needed forhigh-profile, gang-associatedinmates such asCharlebois.

"All those guys who have been sentenced to 20 or25 years in jail try to fool the system,they try to persuade the system that they areokaynow, that they can be released or having permissionor having their security decreased to be in the minimum [security prisons]," saidOuellette.

"I think it raises some questions about the criteria enforced these days regarding that type of guy."

Several prisoners have escaped fromMonteSt-Franoisin the past few years.

In fact, another prisoner escaped from the federal penitentiary just a few months beforeCharlebois.

Last year, another escaped (and recaptured) prisoner told a journalist that he simply "pressed on the door" to get out.