Hell's Angels' liquor license contested

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TORONTO, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- An Ontario court made a series of errors when it chose not to revoke the liquor license of a Hell's Angels chapter president, a lawyer said.

Attorney Scott Hutchison, representing the registrar of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, told the three-judge Ontario Court of Appeal Thursday to examine the admitted connection of London, Ontario, strip club owner Ron Barletta to the motorcycle club, and contrast it with the responsibilities of liquor license holders.

Those responsibilities include "honesty, integrity and carrying out their business in accordance with the law," Hutchison said, noting they run counter to the values of the Hell's Angels.

Richard Posner, Barletta's lawyer, said a lower court weighed his client's club membership against his "unblemished past" as a liquor license holder for more than a decade, and his lack of a criminal record, in deciding to allow Barletta to retain his license.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has been in a legal battle with Barletta since 2009, when it attempted to revoke his license, the Toronto Sun reported Friday, noting the AGCO board ruled in 2011 Barletta wasn't doing anything illegal as far has his business was concerned.