The three defendants who pleaded guilty in November after being nabbed in February 2023 during a “historic” GHB seizure now wish to withdraw their guilty pleas.
• Read also: Historic seizure of GHB: the three traffickers plead guilty and will serve significant prison sentences
• Read also: Date rape drugs: historic police operation in Greater Montreal
Sébastien Turcotte, 44 years old, Éric Matte, 42 years old, and Jean-Philippe Robitaille, 45 years old, were respectively sentenced to 7, 6 and 5 years of imprisonment, following joint suggestions from the parties in the case.
The trio faced charges of participating in a large-scale production and trafficking network of GHB, nicknamed the date rape drug, in greater Montreal.
After changing lawyers, the co-defendants presented a motion to withdraw their plea on Tuesday at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse.
According to defense lawyer, Me Clara Daviault, this could complicate the defense’s task in this case.
“The problem is not the defense lawyer who did his job super well, who really explained exhaustively to the accused what the offer was,” she said.
“But when all the co-defendants withdraw their guilty pleas at the same time even though they all signed an agreed statement of facts […] it adds additional complexity and difficulty to the defense,” she adds.
The defense must in turn present its arguments regarding this request in the afternoon.
See the full explanation in the video above