FREDERIC SERRE
The 1019 Report
A Les Cèdres woman who participated in the torture and killing of a young crypto influencer in 2024 by allowing the killers to use her basement for $3,000 is already a free woman, despite being sentenced last January to two years behind bars.
In a hearing last week, the Quebec Parole Board ruled that Joanie Lepage, 34, had turned her life around so much that she doesn’t need to be in prison.
“Your progress, your commitment, your sense of responsibility, and the quality of your reintegration plan lead us to conclude that the risk of recidivism you present is not unacceptable,” the board members ruled.
Lepage was released from prison after serving one-sixth of her sentence and sent to a halfway house, only weeks after pleading guilty to participating in a gruesome kidnapping that ended in murder, committed at her home on Rolland Street in Les Cèdres, a quiet residential road just off Cité des Jeunes Blvd. near the border with St. Lazare, in June 2024.
Lepage was arrested in August 2024 and charged with murder, aiding and abetting after the fact, and false imprisonment. Last December, she pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, which resulted in the other charges being dropped.
The victim, Kevin Mirshahi, a Montreal crypto trader, was enjoying a night of bar hopping with three friends in Old Montreal on June 21, 2024, when he and his friends were attacked by a group of hooded armed suspects in the parking lot of the condominium building in Old Montreal where Mirshahi lived. The victims were driven to Lepage’s house in Les Cèdres. The next morning, three of the victims were released unharmed, but Mirshahi was kept tied up in the basement, where he was tortured and killed. Mirshahi’s partially decomposed body was found bound and gagged in a north-end Montreal park four months later.
An intensive investigation by the Montreal police homicide squad rounded up Lepage, along with three other individuals — Darius Perry, 27, of Châteauguay; Guillaume Nobert, 36, of St. Lazare; andNackeal Hickey, 26, of Montreal. All three were charged with complicity to commit murder and kidnapping Mirshahi and three other persons. They are all awaiting trial.
Evidence presented during Lepage’s trial revealed that she had kept a diary in which she wrote about allowing a childhood friend to use her basement for $3,000.
“June 21, 2024, $3,000 to let some not very nice people use my basement? Fuck, yeah, for 72 hours maximum, I can’t wait for them to leave and for the smell of Javel goes away!” she wrote.
In the end, however, she was never paid.
“The evidence shows that she acted out of greed,” said Quebec Court Judge Dubois. “The note she left leaves no room for interpretation. As we can see, she seems to have had no hesitation in embarking on this venture to obtain the sum offered.”
“Silence is golden, speech is silver. Never ask questions,” Lepage also noted in her journal, which was seized by police.
During the parole board hearing, members were presented with details about the kidnapping, noting Lepage was experiencing financial difficulties, and had turned to a friend who then put her in touch with a group looking for a place to rent.
“You assumed that your basement would be used for trafficking activities,” the board noted.
The board ruled that the evidence, however, showed that she was unaware of the crime’s fatal outcome, which led her to plead guilty to a reduced charge of false imprisonment.
Her prison term turned out to be shorter than expected, as she was already serving the remainder of her sentence in a halfway house.
At the hearing, Lepage admitted to having turned a blind eye, expressing regret and shame over her actions. Since then, she has worked hard to get her life back on track, notably by cutting all ties with the criminal underworld.
The board also highlighted the quality of her current support system, noting that she now benefits from a healthy social circle and has broken with her substance-abuse habits. Consequently, her risk of reoffending was officially classified as “low.”
“You also address the consequences of your actions for the victims — including the death of one of them — with sensitivity and authenticity,” the board noted.
As part of her pre-parole release, Lepage remains subject to several obligations, including participating in reintegration programs and eventually re-entering the workforce.
Local Journalism Initiative