Written by Caroline Touzin, a portion is loosely translated below. Please click the above link for the full text:
1998, 12th of September, Anjou.
Tension is high on the run down streets of Judith-Jasmines.The two young prostitutes Roxanna and Isabelle (fictitious names) plotted to assassinate Adonis and Fox according to legal documents consulted by La Presse.
Adonis, 21 years old and Fox 23 were always inseparable. Together, they founded the Obsession escorting agency with another one of their gang members, Pascal Almonacy. A fourth man would later join their ranks.
The girls, between 17 and 25 years of age, would work 24/7. They have no right to leave the building without authorisation. Every one of them in love with a member of the gang.
Adonis pimps out two young ladies. Isabelle had already been an erotic dancer before they met. “I want someone like that,” she said as she saw him. Adonis would later recruit Véronique, the second girl, at la Ronde, where she worked. At the end of one of her shifts, Adonis invites her to a party. She was ready “to do anything for him” as she would later testify.
He promises them fiancés. To get there, a lot of money was needed. Prostitution is only “temporary”, just a quick way to get to their main objective.
The gang members would even get money from the girls’ purses. They would leave them 10-20$ to let them eat at McDonalds. 120$ per hour for sex. Isabelle figures that in a few months, she’ll be able to get 40,000$ for Adonis.
Vengeance in the Lounge
In the coming months, the situation worsens. The girls get beaten when not enough cash is brought in. Fox rapes when he pleases.
One day, Isabelle confides in Roxanne that she wants to kill Adonis. He’s been beating her more often as of recent. One day, he brandishes his knife and asks her to choose: either she gets it up at the ass or he sodomizes her.
Roxanne convinces Isabelle that it’d be best to go straight for the head, Fox, instead. She’s got a client who can take care of it.
Before anything is set in stone, Isabelle reveals everything to Fox. He is furious. That night, the gang punishes Roxanne while Isabelle is forced to watch.
Fox starts things off and literally jumps Roxanne, seated on the divan in the lounge. Adonis and Pascal join in. Blood begins to flow. Fox pulls a knife on the young girl. He continuously places the blade only millimeters away from her skin.
“Everyone beat me. You get punches on the head, in the ribs, in the face.”, Roxanna later testified.
From a broken nose to a fractured jaw, every single member made her suffer. The next day, she was beat once again. Exhausted, she denounces Isabelle who is “stealing” the gang by keeping the “extra” money given from clients.
Now, it was Isabelle’s turn. Adonis hits her once in the face.
“After that, he took the knife and put it against my fingers upside-down, but I still felt it’s pressure.”
Adonis didn’t follow through with the threat and only remarked “Come to bed. You know that your my woman and that I love you, right?”
Anything Goes
To continue the torture, the guys come up with a new idea. They organize a boxing match between the two “conspirators”.
Adonis lends them a pair of gloves. Anything goes. “If I didn’t knock out Isabelle, it would be Fox who would knock me out.” Explained Roxanne.
Near the end of September, Roxanne finally begged her way to be allowed to go to eat out with her father. She swears she will tell him nothing. She does her best to hide her bruises with excessive makeup. But once in front of her farther, she bursts into tears. She recounts her nightmare. He hides her in a safe place and she would later go to the police.
Roxanne’s disappearance brings about agitation. The gang moves the girls around from one motel to the next. Since the police never came, they would later return to the apartment in Anjou.
In the morn of October 21st, the police enter the establishment. The members are cuffed and the girls are taken away as well. They would reveal everything.
No less than 32 accusations are placed against the four men, prostitution, death threats, assault and battery.
Olympic Dreams
A few days after their first appearance in front of the judge, the accused beg for their liberty.
“My goal is to go to the Olympics. Before the arrest, I was training myself regularly six hours per day. I train in the morning. I run for two hours”, testified Adonis.
The judge refuses to free the gang. Too dangerous.
Earlier this month, we ran into him while he was training for his fight on the 30th of November in Quebec. The boxer allowed us to go back on a few elements of his past.
He paid some lip service, regretting what the girls had to endure.
Adonis would later assure that he has “cleaned up” his entourage since then.
Denunciation
At the hearing, the four girls would denounce each of the accused.
None of the accused would attempt to defend themselves. As he would recall, Adonis was ordered not to testify. “Of course there’ll be some repercussions if you talk. In those types of situations, you can’t talk. I respected that.”
La Presse would later find two of the gang’s victims to shed some light on the role Adonis played back in the day.
Despite the amount of time that has passed, the two still tremble to the thought. One no longer despises the boxer. The other has never forgiven him.
“He doesn’t deserve to be admired the way he is after what he’s done. What would you say if that happen to your daughter?” says the one who still despises him. She was fuming when the boxer would appear on the show “Tout le monde en parle (everyone’s talking about it)” last year as they depicted him as the girls’ “bodyguard”. “He was Fox’s right hand man. He was more than just a body guard.”
Even if he refuses to admit it, Adonis beat those girls, confirms the other victim. “I think he was just following orders ; to stop Fox from killing us. It was to protect us from the worst.” Says the one who had forgiven him.
“The other guys were manipulated too, not just the girls.” Adds another.
At the time, Adonis was often at the gym “I think it was his escape. He definitely wouldn’t admit it, but I think he was also afraid of the boss.”. Confirms another victim.
Life in the shadows.
On April 2nd 2000 at the Rivière-des-Prairies prison, Adonis is placed in the “protection” section of the prison alongside another one of the accused. The men are confined to their sells 23 hours a day.
At 5 o’clock, it’s visit time. The detained wait for their doors to open so they can get to the booths. One man lags behind: Adonis. Another inmate, Guy Langlois, impatiently screams “You coming out or what?” in a disrespectful tone.
Adonis respondes “You talking to me like that?” The man replies “yeah” in the same tone. Things do not escalate any further.
At 7:30 pm, a brawl breaks out between about 10 inmates. Cries resonate through the halls, tensions rise. As the guards arrive, Langlois is out on his back in front of a cell. Adonis violently kicks Langlois in the head.
“I dreamt about that for 3 days. I had never seen anything so violent in my 11 years.” Says one of the agents.
Langlois was bleeding from the mouth and was having convulsions. He was later transported to a hospital in which he would later fall into a coma. Despite the double fractures to his skull, he would be hospitalized for 10 days and later survived.
Adonis claims that he was jumped by about 10 men, some armed with make shift shivs. He responded by KOing 5 or 6 of them before the guards arrived.
“They knew I could box. They wanted to test me. That’s what prison is like” says the boxer.
The striking Verdict
One month later, judge Jean-Pierre’s decisions strikes as painfully as an uppercut (corn ball)
“There is no doubt that the accused have borne the fruits of labour from the prostitution ring. These young girls were severely beaten. They were forced to beat each other. They were forced to commit lesbian-like acts. They were threatened if they even suggested leaving the group.” Fox however, was definitely the head of the group, as was declared by the judge.
Adonis had control over two young girls who would bring him money, stated the judge. He bore witness to the gang’s criminal activities. He was present when the girls would get beaten.
The accused were found guilty. Fox would receive 5 years in prison while Adonis and Pascal are sent to jail for 4 years.
They had already been in preventative holding for 20 months. Back then, that counted as twice the amount of time.
The boxer’s legal troubles did not end there. Another trial would have him testify for the scuffle that took place last time he was imprisoned. He was accused of attempted murder and aggression.
To his delight, the heaviest accusation was dropped. In September, he pleaded guilty to the aggression charges. He received an extra month in prison. Once released in 2001, he would make a pact with himself. Never again would he go back. It’s time to get back to the gym.
pound 4 pound ireland 
Adonis, we hardly knew ye.
Of course boxing recruits from the meanest streets, but this is hideous.
It is, but to be fair to Adonis, this was 15 years ago: he’s paid his debt to society and now is a reformed family man
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FYI La Presse + is not a “tabloid” but a legitimate media outlett. It used to be a newspaper for decades but switched to electronic version in recent years.
Thanks for the clarification