ww.yahoo.Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Pubdate: Wed, 09 Aug 2006
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2006 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Ann Carroll
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

VETERAN POLICE OFFICER FACING DRUG CHARGES RELEASED ON BAIL

Judge Sets Long List Of Conditions

A police officer has the same right to get out of jail on bail as 
other citizens charged with serious criminal offences, a Quebec Court 
judge ruled yesterday.

Judge Gilles Cadieux ordered Montreal police Constable Pierre Goulet 
released from detention, pending his trial on charges of conspiracy 
to import drugs, money laundering, drug-trafficking and possession of 
the proceeds of crime.

Goulet, 41, is alleged to have taken part in a network that smuggled 
cocaine into Canada from February 2000 to February 2002 through the 
border town of Lacolle and the states of New York and Florida.

The judge said he took into account the fact Goulet had no previous 
criminal record and was not accused of committing crimes while on duty.

The accused, a 14-year veteran of the police force, was providing 
security at Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport in Dorval prior to his 
arrest on June 26.

Cadieux also cited severe shortcomings - witnesses who could not be 
located or were imprisoned outside Canada, circumstantial evidence 
and contested testimony by an undercover RCMP agent - in the federal 
government's case outlined last week during Goulet's two-day bail hearing.

There is a publication ban on testimony at the hearing.

The judge noted that Goulet's mother and sister, who were present at 
the hearings, pledged their homes as collateral to win his release. 
Goulet "is not rich," and there is little chance of his fleeing 
before his court proceedings, Cadieux said.

A "reasonable citizen informed of the circumstances of the case" 
would not consider Goulet's continued detention necessary to public 
confidence in the justice system, he added.

But the judge set a long list of bail conditions:

Goulet's mother, Claudette Lalande, must provide a $50,000 mortgage 
on her South Shore home as security.

Goulet must post a $25,000 bond.

The accused must live with his mother, respect an overnight curfew 
and report once a week to Montreal police.

He cannot possess a weapon, associate with known criminals or drug 
dealers, or contact crown witnesses.

He cannot leave Quebec or possess a passport.

Goulet has been suspended from the police force without pay since his arrest.

Defence lawyer Gerald Souliere said Goulet's family members "are very 
relieved" by the bail ruling. "The judge took into account he 
(Goulet) had a clean record and there was no reason to detain him."

Souliere noted it could take a couple of days for Goulet to pull 
together the $25,000 bond necessary for his release.

Crown prosecutor Richard Roy declined to comment on Cadieux's decision.

"The judge seems satisfied with the guarantees," he noted.

Goulet's next court date is Oct. 10, when the crown prosecutor is to 
provide the defence with information about the evidence against the accused.

If found guilty on conspiracy to import cocaine, Goulet could face 
life in prison. The maximum jail sentence on the other charges is 10 years.
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