Alice English, a 55-year-old mother of four and grandmother of 12, who worked as a guard for 16 years, was found guilty last month by Quebec Court Judge Patrick Healy on four counts of trafficking in drugs and one of conspiracy to traffic.Both the Crown and defence had suggested a sentence of 5 1/2 years.Healey's decision gives English 64 months and one week in jail - five years, four months and one week.
During her trial, Healy dismissed court testimony English gave in February as "self-contradictory." He accepted without argument an earlier confession by English videotaped by investigators during which, he noted, the accused appeared relaxed and even joked.English provided "a complete confession," the judge concluded. "It was clear and deliberate, fluid and unrehearsed. It was replete with factual details that were provided spontaneously and without suggestion or prodding."The gravity of the offence was compounded by the breach of trust that had been placed in English as a public servant, Judge Healy stated, as well as the quantities of drugs involved.
Evidence showed that while on sick leave, about 5 a.m. on July 7, 2005, English carried coffee cans into Bordeaux prison containing 110 rocks of crack cocaine, weighing 38.5 grams, 2.8 kilograms of marijuana, 1.1 kilos of hashish, one gram of cocaine, pornographic magazines and five cellphones with batteries.
She placed the contraband in a garbage bin, where it was discovered about 6:30 a.m.
The value of the contraband, once in prisoners' hands, had been pegged at $257,500 in police testimony.
During her trial, Healy dismissed court testimony English gave in February as "self-contradictory." He accepted without argument an earlier confession by English videotaped by investigators during which, he noted, the accused appeared relaxed and even joked.English provided "a complete confession," the judge concluded. "It was clear and deliberate, fluid and unrehearsed. It was replete with factual details that were provided spontaneously and without suggestion or prodding."The gravity of the offence was compounded by the breach of trust that had been placed in English as a public servant, Judge Healy stated, as well as the quantities of drugs involved.
Evidence showed that while on sick leave, about 5 a.m. on July 7, 2005, English carried coffee cans into Bordeaux prison containing 110 rocks of crack cocaine, weighing 38.5 grams, 2.8 kilograms of marijuana, 1.1 kilos of hashish, one gram of cocaine, pornographic magazines and five cellphones with batteries.
She placed the contraband in a garbage bin, where it was discovered about 6:30 a.m.
The value of the contraband, once in prisoners' hands, had been pegged at $257,500 in police testimony.
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