Ducarme Joseph released from prison: reports

MONTREAL – Former street gang leader Ducarme Joseph, 42, has reportedly been released from prison.

Joseph, who escaped a 50-bullet fusillade that killed two men and seriously injured two others at his high-fashion boutique in Old Montreal on March 18, was released Sunday from a prison in Rimouski after serving two-thirds of his 10-month sentence for assault, according to several media reports. Joseph was reportedly supposed to leave the jail Monday but his exit was held a day earlier and under maximum secrecy.

He was reportedly escorted out of the prison by police officers and representatives of the Quebec Department of Public Safety.

Mario Vaillancourt, a spokesperson for the department, would not confirm the release Tuesday, and he said the department never discloses such information about prisoners.

Joseph pleaded guilty in April to an assault charge in connection with an incident at Buona Notte, a Montreal restaurant, on Sept. 19, 2009. A surveillance video showed Joseph wielding an empty champagne bottle and a metal stand. He also pleaded guilty to possession of a silencer.

Two men, Carey Isaac Regis, 41, and Terrell Lloyd Smith, 27, were charged in July with first degree murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the Old Montreal shooting. A third suspect, Kyle Gabriel, 26, is still at large.