Pubdate: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2007 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Paul Cherry, The Gazette Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) CROOKED COP SCARED INTO NEW CRIMES: DEFENCE RCMP Agent Pretended to Be Drug Lord to Threaten Montreal Officer, Court Told Former Montreal police officer Pierre Goulet was tricked into thinking a Colombian drug cartel suspected him of betraying the cocaine smuggling network he had worked for, his defence lawyer said yesterday. Because of this, Gerald Souliere argued in Quebec Court, Goulet feared for his life and took part in new crimes during a RCMP sting operation, which otherwise he wouldn't have done. Goulet pleaded guilty in June to two counts of transporting the proceeds of crime and four counts of possession of proceeds of crime. Goulet brought more than $1 million across the U.S. border for his childhood friend Bernard Mondou, who was using the money to buy hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombian drug lord Elias Cobos-Munoz. Goulet carried the money during a series of trips between Feb. 1, 2000, and Jan. 31, 2002, flashing his police badge when he arrived at customs. In 2004, Cobos-Munoz was arrested in Florida along with several other people in Operation Manatee, a major U.S. investigation of cocaine smuggling. Mondou and a small group of Quebecers were also arrested. Goulet went completely unnoticed during Operation Manatee. But in 2004, a wealthy Quebec drug trafficker named Daniel Muir, Mondou's partner, was murdered in downtown Mont- real. While the Montreal police investigated the homicide, an investigator recognized Goulet as being part of Muir's and Mondou's entourage. The investigation was turned over to the RCMP. They used a double agent who called himself Ricardo and pretended people tied to the Colombian cartel were wondering why Goulet, an active police officer, was never was caught in Operation Manatee. The double agent wanted Goulet to prove he wasn't a rat and asked him to commit crimes like laundering $20,000 in drug money. Terrified, Goulet only did what the double agent asked him to in order to survive, Souliere told Judge Myrian Chevalier at the Montreal courthouse. "If I want to get out some day, is that okay?" Goulet asked the double agent at one point of the investigation. "What is important to me is that I survive." Souliere suggested Goulet had no interest in taking part in organized crime at that point in his life and made the trips between 2000 and 2002 to help his childhood friend, while pocketing an estimated $70,000. Souliere recommended that Goulet be sentenced to between 16 and 18 months in prison and asked Chevalier to consider the possibility of a suspended sentence. The Crown is seeking a three-year term. Mondou, 42, was originally sentenced to 135 months for his role in Operation Manatee after pleading guilty in a Florida court. Mondou, 42, was expected to testify against Goulet if his friend's case went to trial. Shortly after Goulet pleaded guilty, Mondou's sentence was reduced to 90 months Chevalier is to sentence Goulet on Oct. 2. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake