One of the men behind the famous theft of 2,700 tons of maple syrup in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Richard Vallières, is dismissed and will ultimately have to pay a compensatory fine of $9.1 million.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday that a court does not have the discretion to lower the amount to be paid for the sole benefit of the offender from his crime, as the Quebec Court of Appeal did in this case.
“The fact of separating the income and expenses of the offender in order to establish his profit margin would essentially amount to legitimizing the criminal activity”, can we read in the judgment rendered unanimously.
The judges also pointed out that this would run counter to the objective of deterrence to reoffend, which must “also target potential accomplices and criminal organizations”.
“Through the harsh proceeds of crime provisions, Parliament sends a clear message that ‘crime does not pay’ and thereby attempts to discourage individuals from organizing and committing crimes motivated by financial gain. “, we explain.
Mr. Vallières will have 10 years to pay the compensatory fine, otherwise he faces six years in prison for non-payment. The man is already serving an eight-year prison sentence.
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Mr. Vallières was found guilty, in 2016, of fraud, trafficking and theft concerning the imposing quantity of maple syrup from the Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec.
The value of the stolen merchandise is estimated at more than $18 million, but the man said he made $10 million from the resale and paid his accomplices to end up, in the end, with a personal profit of around $1 million. dollars.
At first instance, the Superior Court of Quebec had determined that the compensatory fine should be close to $10 million, but the Court of Appeal had revised this amount downwards to that of the margin profit.
The Supreme Court of Canada, which heard the case last November, sided with the Superior Court’s interpretation. She deducted $828,602.43, an amount that Mr. Vallières was already required to pay to the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers under another order.
The highest court in the country also had to determine whether the amount to be paid should be shared with his accomplices for the risk of double recovery. The judges determined that the evidence to that effect was insufficient.
“It suffices to note that Mr. Vallières did not prove at first instance, nor on appeal for that matter, that there was a [tel] risk […] so that the trial judge effectively had no choice but to impose a fine of that amount. »