Tony Acurzo should finally go to jail

The Quebec Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected Tony Acurzo’s appeals, challenging the verdicts and sentences imposed on him following an investigation into fraud and corruption, even as he harshly criticized the Crown and police conduct in the case.

The Court of Appeals, however, writes in a comprehensive 76-page judgment that their conduct did not make the former construction contractor’s investigation unreasonable.

Thus the Court of Appeal held that Mr. Must surrender to prison authorities within 1^Er He faces up to four years in prison in June. However, that person can appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In June 2018, there was Tony Acurzo Was found guilty by an arbitral tribunal For his active participation in the corruption and collusion in Laval under the rule of former Mayor Gilles Wylancourt between 1996 and 2010. Those two – and 35 others – were arrested in May 2013 by ‘permanent protesters’. Corruption Division (UPAC)

Mr. Acurzo said he was unaware of his companies’ involvement in the project because he was not involved in day-to-day operations. He pleaded guilty to all charges.

The organization, set up by Gilles Vaillancourt, confirmed that the city of Laval had awarded public contracts to companies that offered a 2% discount to the mayor and his associates. Two of Tony Agroso’s companies, such as Construction Louisburg and Schimmert-Fuetrie, won the contract, which was written in the Court of Appeal.

Blame it on the first test that was stopped

Tony Acurzo raised a number of appeals, many of which revolved around the miscarriage of his first trial (and the subsequent police investigation).

It came to an abrupt end in 2017 when a jury revealed to the judge that his uncle had told him that he had seen Mayor Wylancourt’s fundraiser, Mark Gentron, with suitcases filled with banknotes related to the Laval corruption organization. The same Mark Gentron testified at trial that he met Tony Akurso in the parking lot and offered him a $ 200,000 discount. The woman shared this information with two other jurors. A very unusual criminal investigation was launched to determine whether anyone had tried to influence the arbitral tribunal.

The abortion trial of the first trial was favorable to the trial because it had already revealed its defense strategy; The crown was able to modify and improve its resources, complained Tony Acurzo.

In its judgment on Thursday, the appellate court noted that the revelations made to the jury quickly proved unfounded: Mama had made a “bad joke” and had committed no crime. But police investigators continued their efforts, noting that the judges hoped the accused would be released. The access to this information and the opinion of the arbitral tribunal were unnecessarily beneficial to the lawyer, pleaded the former entrepreneur.

The court described the conduct of the police in this case as “problematic” and “incredibly irresponsible” because the investigators received information about the jury’s arguments, although they must remain confidential.

As for the Crown, it initially neglected to provide protection with a police investigation report on the jury – a “complex” omission, the Court of Appeals writes that this conduct should be “condemned”.

Incomplete, but systematic

But if the conduct and lack of transparency of the police had given Tony Akurso “legal concerns”, would they have given an unfair advantage to the prosecution during the former construction contractor’s second trial? No, the court responds.

The revealed facts state that “the existence of an inclined will cannot be established to use a proper criminal investigation to complete the prosecution’s testimony or to infiltrate the secrecy of the proceedings in an unlawful and inappropriate manner”.

While it regrets certain aspects of the conduct of the police and the Crown, the judges say the Quebec Court of Appeal cannot consider those circumstances as “a clear case of losing judgment given to the community”. She asserts that the four-year prison sentence imposed on her is sufficient.

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