Posted on 06/11/2018 1:50:10 PM PDT by llevrok
Niagara Regional Police Const. Scott Heron has been found guilty of four criminal charges that include conspiracy to smuggle cheese and chicken wings across the border from the United States into Canada.
Heron, 42, had been charged with six counts, three of which related to the Customs Act, and three breach of trust charges that related to his duties as a police officer.
Heron was found guilty on all three of the charges laid under the Customs Act, but only one breach of trust charge.
Justice James Ramsay delivered his decision on Friday following a five-day trial in the Superior Court of Justice in Welland.
The Crown's case depended heavily on the evidence of former NRP Const. Geoff Purdie who lost his job in April 2013 following his conviction in a Buffalo courtroom on a charge of conspiracy to smuggle steroids from the United States into Canada.
Purdie received a sentence of one year in jail, which he served in an American prison. Part of his plea agreement with U.S. officials was that he would testify in court about the cheese smuggling operation.
Court heard how Heron would phone in the cheese orders to a Buffalo pizza supply company, Purdie would pick them up in his truck and drive back across the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie. He was never stopped at the border because in addition to his passport, he would show his warrant card, which identified him as a police officer.
The investigation began in January 2012 and involved Niagara police, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Canada Border Services Agency.
The initial investigation focused on Purdie's cross-border activities and it led to the large-scale cheese and chicken wings smuggling operation.
The judge said he believed Purdie was telling the truth, in spite of his character as a drug smuggler. His evidence was also confirmed by the testimony of other witnesses who testified at trial, along with some of the documents that had been presented, which included phone records and purchase invoices from a Buffalo pizza supply company
Cheese and chicken wings?.................They have a shortage of cheese and chicken wings in Canada?...................
270% tariff on dairy products.
Reminds me of a racial joke heard decades ago
“Notch yo cheese!”
Cheese smuggling WORKS, because Canadian dairy tariffs are 270%! That is why President Trump is working for FAIR trade!
Trudeau’s tariffs cause crime!
That’s why Monty Python’s cheese shop was out of cheese. All their shipments had been confiscated at the Canadian border.
It’s the finest cheese shop in the district!
Well, it’s certainly uncontaminated by cheese!
We could smuggle cheese in on mooses if we could get them to stop eating it.
Maybe a moose bit his sister...
270%!...............That’s a Gouda amount....Just Edam!.............
OMG...is this a hanging offense in the People’s Republic of Canada?
I know that joke!.............
By itself, that 275% sounds bad. But, IIRC, we have government support for milk production. Does Canada have that, too, or are they just achieving a countervailing effect through the tariffs?
On a first read. Trumps concept of equal or no tariffs sounds great, but it can’t be separated from government industry support or dumping. For example, no one could compete with Chinese steel in a no tariff, no dumping penalty regime, since the Chinese government has built production to a huge level.
LoL. Excellent!
Because of the high tariffs Canada is charging.
Yep. His defense lawyer should use the tariff defense.
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