A Hells Angel received a mandatory life sentence for bombing the car of Lee Carter, Jr., a federal drug informant, in 1993.

Before being killed, Carter was a federal informant in a drug-conspiracy case that involved several members of the “Hells Angels” motorcycle gang. The bikers had addressed Carter, asking him to help them smuggle cocaine across the border.

The 31-year-old bartender chose to do the right thing and told authorities about the drug smuggling ring, this leading to his death on July 28, 1994, when a bomb exploded inside his car. The blast occurred outside a bowling alley in New York, where Carter worked. The bomb exploded when the bartender unknowingly activated a mechanism that had been secretly placed in his car by Richard Vallee, 49, the only Hells Angel who had not pleaded guilty in the drug-conspiracy case and had remained free on bail until a trial scheduled for September 1993. The other four partners of Vallee all pleaded guilty and were arrested.

Two years after the car bombing, Vallee was arrested in a Hells Angels bunker and in a few months he was charged with Carter’s murder.

But, a day before the extradition to New York to face the charges, Vallee escaped from a Montreal hospital, helped by some gang members. He had been hospitalized following a fight inside a Canadian federal prison, in which he had been involved.

In 2003, he was caught again, in Canada, after being pulled over for driving under the influence. His fingerprints helped authorities identify him as an escaped criminal. Vallee was extradited to the U.S. in 2006.

U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy convicted him to life prison and ordered him to pay $900,000 in compensation to Carter’s family. Vallee’s attorney said his client would appeal the sentence.