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The sentence hearing for a pilot who came close to shutting down Hydro-Québec’s entire power network four years ago is expected to conclude this week at the St-Jérôme courthouse.

Normand Dubé, 56, a man dubbed “the pilot to the stars” by media covering his case because he was known for flying for entertainers like singer Normand Brathwaite and actor Gaston Lepage, is facing a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

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On Sept. 13, Quebec Court Judge Paul Chevalier found Dubé guilty of three counts of mischief for using a small airplane to trigger the shutdown of two Hydro-Québec power lines that carry electricity across the province from north to south and for attempts to short-circuit other lines.

His first strike came just after 3 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2014, in Mirabel where he somehow managed to short-circuit two parallel 735 kV high-tension lines, which caused the network to react automatically as it attempted to adjust and sent energy to adjacent lines, nearly causing the system to overload.