Retirement just became somewhat more difficult for Eugene Rivard, who will have to pay more than $176,000 in court fines after pleading guilty to smuggling loose cigarettes and tobacco.
Rivard, 74, appeared in Moose Jaw provincial court on Nov. 21, where he pleaded guilty to unsafe storage of firearms (non-restricted long guns), contravening the Tobacco Tax Act by failing to acquire a licence to manufacture tobacco, and contravening the Excise Tax Act.
The Crown stayed four other charges.
As part of a joint submission, he received a conditional discharge — he won’t have a criminal record — and 24 months of probation. He will also have to pay $176,884 in fines — $54,196 under the Excise Tax and $122,688 under the Tobacco Tax Act — beginning with an initial payment of $75,000.
Rivard — who has no prior criminal record — won’t have to forfeit his firearms, but he won’t get them back immediately and can’t possess any during his probation. He will have to keep the peace, be of good behaviour and appear in court when ordered.
Rivard was one of five people initially accused of transporting 618,000 illegal cigarettes and about 31 kilograms (68 pounds) of loose tobacco worth $115,000 after officers with the Moose Jaw Police Service executed a search warrant on March 19.
The Crown stayed all the charges against the other four individuals — Elizabeth Rivard, 69, Paula Rivard, 48, Douglas Ahenakew, 54, and Samuel Peter Crook, 58 — since the joint submission and sentencing was considered a global resolution.
“You were involved in a very large enterprise regarding illegal cigarettes (and) trafficking cigarettes in this province,” said Judge Murray Hinds. “You have pled guilty. I see no reason to take issue with that (joint submission).”
Case facts
Assiniboia RCMP received a tip on Dec. 31, 2018, that Eugene Rivard was trafficking illegal cigarettes, with the cigarettes being kept in a storage unit on Ominica Street West, said Crown prosecutor Rob Parker.
Moose Jaw police watched the storage unit on March 18, 2019 and saw Rivard entering and leaving in a suspicious manner, Parker continued. A day later, police saw him attempting to unload boxes from his truck into his storage unit.
Police moved in and arrested Eugene, Elizabeth, and Crook and charged them with illegal possession of cigarettes. While the storage unit was locked, officers found more than 227,200 unstamped cigarettes in Rivard’s truck.
Possessing these unstamped cigarettes was contrary to section 32 (1) of the Excise Tax Act, Parker explained, since a federal minister had not given Rivard advanced written permission to have them, while a deposit for taxes had not been provided under the Tobacco Tax Act.
Officers executed search warrants on March 20 at the storage unit as well as Rivard’s home in Congress, Sask., located north of Assiniboia. They found 390,200 cigarettes and 68 pounds of loose unmarked tobacco in the storage unit, while police found several firearms at Rivard’s home that were poorly stored.
Rivard’s father was of European descent while his mother was a mix of Aboriginal and Métis, explained defence lawyer Matthew Schmeling. Rivard did not intend to sell either the cigarettes or tobacco but planned to have them used at funeral wakes, weddings, powwows and other Aboriginal ceremonies.
“I know I was somewhat surprised in the manner of the use of this tobacco. But I understand that as part of those ceremonies, cigarettes are consumed in great quantities,” said Schmeling, adding Rivard owned rifles to hunt birds and game animals.
The fines are large, which meant Rivard had to cash in several of his investments, said Schmeling. These fines are “punitive” and are worth more than the cigarettes or tobacco.
“This will affect his retirement and his way of life going forward,” he added.
Moose Jaw provincial court next meets on Nov. 25.
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