Police say the man charged with setting fire to downtown buildings in Moncton last summer is connected to a biker gang.

RCMP say Eric Lefevre has links to Quebec's Downtown Damners, an affiliate of the Hell's angels.

Lefevre is far from having full fledged membership with the Downtown Damners. He's only an associate gang member and it's likely the gang used the 29-year-old to do odd jobs, says Mark Gallager, a spokesman for the RCMP.

"An associate in organized crime is basically someone who's a gopher or someone who will do things - could be a debt collector," he says. "It's basically a way of earning your rights within the group."

Lefevre's links to the gang are being used as evidence in the fire investigation, Gallager says.

Lefevre pleaded guilty last week to setting the fire that destroyed three Moncton heritage buildings last summer.

Gallager says it isn't Lefevre's first offence.

"Mr. Lefever has been found guilty on a couple counts of criminal acts in Quebec City and some of it was arson related," he says.

Lefevre is currently serving time in jail for these crimes but Gallager won't say where.

Police aren't saying what possible interest the biker gangs may have had in the buildings that were destroyed.