R. v. TED, [ABQB, Medicine Hat – January 2021]

According to the Medicine Hat Police Service (“MHPS”), TED was the “ring leader” of the “largest organized crime” syndicate in the history of the MHPS. In terms of the scale of the investigation and gravity of the prosecution, the following media releases clearly speak for themselves:

• Global News – ALERT, Alberta police forces arrest 10, seize $200K in cocaine in trafficking investigation.
• Medicine Hat News – MHPS concludes ‘largest organized crime investigation’ with 60 charges, major drug seizure
• Chat News Today – Project Maverick shuts down cocaine trafficking network

As TED had prior related convictions (in relation to which Patrick Fagan was NOT his lawyer) and given the seriousness of this prosecution, the Crown was seeking a very lengthy period of imprisonment in the Federal institution. Consequently, TED retained Patrick Fagan to defend the case.

An election by way of a Queen’s Bench Justice sitting without the intervention of a Jury but with a preliminary inquiry was entered. At the conclusion of a lengthy preliminary inquiry, Patrick Fagan was successful in killing a number of very serious charges including conspiracy to traffick in cocaine.

All that remained at the conclusion of the preliminary inquiry were 6 “proceeds” charges including money laundering and trafficking in proceeds. Thus, success at preliminary inquiry resulted in reducing TED’s potential jeopardy vis-à-vis jail from “double digits” (i.e.: 10 years imprisonment plus to a potential jail term in the range of 2-4years). Pleas of not guilty were maintained in relation to all remaining charges and the matter was scheduled for trial.

Prior to commencement of trial, Patrick Fagan identified a number of additional evidentiary shortcomings in the case for the prosecution against TED, brought these deficiencies to the attention of the assigned Crown Prosecutor and endeavoured to resolve this matter without the additional cost and risk always associated with any trial. While TED was not one to shy away from a fight (nor is Patrick Fagan for that matter) the ultimate objective from TED’s perspective was to avoid (if at all possible) the imposition of any jail time.

BOTTOM LINE: Patrick Fagan was ultimately successful in killing 5 of the 6 remaining criminal charges including money laundering and trafficking in proceeds of crime. A guilty plea was ultimately entered to a singular charge of possessing proceeds and the matter was dealt with by way of a fine and probation for 1 year… NO JAIL.