PROJECT Drill has quickly struck gold. One of the 18 targets of a massive, year-long undercover police investigation entered a surprising guilty plea Tuesday, just six days after his arrest.
Stacy Jack Finch, 50, of St. Pierre Jolys, was sentenced to 66 months in prison after admitting he brokered two drug deals with secret agent Scotty "Taz" Robertson earlier this year.
Finch is a longtime City of Winnipeg employee who handed over 10 pounds of marijuana and nearly 1,000 crystal meth pills to Robertson in separate deals last January, court was told. Finch worked in general maintenance for the building services department.
Both Finch and Robertson were captured on video and audio surveillance.
The first, on Jan. 27, occurred on the Harbour View public golf course. Robertson was given $23,000 in marked money by the police which was then paid to Finch for the pot.
The second, on Jan. 31, was in the parking lot of Boogie's Diner on Main Street. Robertson paid Finch $11,000 for the small white pills which were marked with brand-name logos including "Coca Cola".
Negotiations for the deals had occurred on Jan. 26 at a local Salisbury House restaurant, court was told.
"This is the early-bird special," Crown attorney Chris Mainella said with a smile as he explained the sudden resolution of Finch's case to provincial court Judge John Guy.
Finch had actually started the day by making a bail application, but agreed to plead guilty after hearing the Crown's 90-minute submission which included listening and watching himself doing the deals.
Defence lawyer Tim Killeen said it's obvious there was a strong case against his client and Finch wanted to quickly put the matter behind him.
"This has moved very, very rapidly," he said.
Finch fought back tears during the brief sentencing hearing. Killeen said his client has worked for the city for more than two decades and will likely lose his job.
He has also disappointed his wife and daughter -- a university student -- along with the grandchild he was helping to raise, he said.
Finch has known Robertson for much of his life and was stunned to learn he was working undercover for the police, said Killeen.
"I'm guessing this is going to end that friendship," he told court.
Robertson is a longtime biker associate who was paid $500,000 to infiltrate the gang and allow police to gather damning evidence against key targets beginning in November 2006.
During the course of Project Drill, police seized 11 kilograms of cocaine, 13 pounds of marijuana, 2,000 tablets of methamphetamine, five machine guns, three handguns, $70,000 cash and several vehicles.
Manitoba chapter president Dale Donovan and full-patch members from Ontario and British Columbia were among those arrested last Wednesday in raids that occurred across the country.
The charges involve drug trafficking, weapons smuggling and even a conspiracy to commit murder against a Thompson, Manitoba man that police say was thwarted by Robertson, who is now in witness protection.
One suspect remains outstanding. Andrew David Janz, 35, is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant and is considered by police to be "armed and dangerous."
All of the accused remain in custody.
Finch has three prior drug-related convictions on his record but this marks his first federal penitentiary sentence. He would be eligible for "accelerated parole" after serving just one-sixth of his time, meaning he could be released as early as November 2008.
Finch was ordered Tuesday to forfeit items seized from him by police, including all the cash, several weapons and even a vehicle used in the drug deals.
www.mikeoncrime.com
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