Trial begins for Sudbury tax centre employee accused of helping biker gang

A jury will be chosen Monday for a trial that could shed light on the Sudbury operations of criminal motorcycle gangs.

47-year-old Christopher Casola is facing 11 charges, including committing an offence for the benefit of a criminal organization.

Casola was one of hundreds employed by Sudbury's federal tax data centre in 2014. Police allege that at the same time, he was a member of the Bacchus motorcycle club.

Investigators say in 2014, he illegally accessed the personal information of several people through the computer systems at the Canada Revenue Agency.

In the spring of 2016, police laid 11 charges against Casola, including breach of trust, committing an offence for the benefit of a criminal organization, unauthorized use of a computer and several weapons charges.

Casola has been out on bail since then, during which time he was forbidden from being in contact with any members of the Bacchus, Outlaw or Hells Angels motorcycle clubs.

The court also ordered him to stay away from the Sudbury police station, unless he was there to discuss his bail.

Criminal biker gangs had a major and often violent presence in Sudbury in the 1990s, but they have since faded from the public eye.

The trial begins this week with the selection of the jury.