‘Could have been a CEO’ Crown seeks 10 years for woman at top of cocaine ring that hauled in $600K in three months By: Dean Pritchard Posted: 6:03 PM CDT Tuesday, Jun. 18, 2024 Last Modified: 3:24 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 19, 2024 Updates

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Sandra Guiboche sold a product she was proud of, took pains to ensure its quality, and oversaw a production and distribution network comprised of dozens of people, raking in more than $600,000 in profit in three months.

But Guiboche wasn’t selling some new high-end consumer good — she was peddling crack cocaine and didn’t hesitate to use violence to ensure her sales targets were met.

“If she had the opportunities other people have in life, Sandra Guiboche could have been a CEO,” Crown attorney Kate Henley told court at a sentencing hearing Tuesday. “She clearly has a knack for business.”

Guiboche, 60, was the primary target of a lengthy police investigation dubbed Project Matriarch and is alleged to have been dealing drugs in the Point Douglas area off and on for 25 years.

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She was among 27 people arrested in the spring of 2021 following a months-long investigation that resulted in the seizure of more than $2.3 million worth of drugs and property.

Guiboche, who arrived at court using a walker, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. The Crown is seeking a 10-year prison sentence.

The province seized 10 properties Guiboche owned or co-owned with co-accused Amanda Rouse, three of which were rented out to members of the drug ring and used to process and stash drugs.

“The structure of this drug organization was very hierarchical, like a pyramid, with Sandra Guiboche at the top,” Henley said. “She controlled basically everything.”

Court heard Guiboche and other top members of the drug ring purchased kilos of powdered cocaine from three suppliers, which were then converted to crack at one of her properties on Lisgar Avenue. Once processed (which included being dyed pink, the drug ring’s on-brand trademark) and packaged, the drugs were then picked up by “dishers” who distributed the drugs for sale by dealers at another Lisgar Avenue “crack shack.”

Henley said business at the crack shack was booming, with police observing more than 500 drug transactions over the course of three days.

“This is a significant operation,” she told King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne.

Guiboche scheduled her low-level dealers, many of whom had addiction issues of their own, according to who owed her rent, Henley said.

“She’s clearly controlling people in that way,” she said.

Guiboche hid the drug proceeds as supposed rent income or laundered it at city casinos. Casino security footage showed Guiboche on multiple occasions feeding money into casino machines and then cashing out without gambling.

“There’s no question here that Sandra Guiboche was a heavy gambler as well, but she also used that as a way to launder her proceeds of crime,” Henley said.

“She knows what it is like to be in the throes of an addiction, but she is still exploiting others for a financial gain.”–Crown attorney Kate Henley

During the course of the six-month investigation, police intercepted 60,000 communications, a large volume of which captured Guiboche directing the actions of drug ring participants, including six of her own family members.

“She was essentially on the phone or texting all day, everyday,” Henley said.

In recordings played for court Tuesday, Guiboche could be heard directing a nephew to assault an underling who hadn’t performed to her expectations and threatening some of them directly herself.

“You’re using my f—-ing money to go out and score,” Guiboche is heard saying on one intercepted phone call. “You’re going to get your hand broken hard and punched in the face.”

According to a Gladue report commissioned by the defence, Guiboche has experienced past struggles with addictions, but was sober for years prior to her arrest.

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“She knows what it is like to be in the throes of an addiction, but she is still exploiting others for a financial gain,” Henley said.

Guiboche has 25 prior criminal convictions, nine of them for drug offences. In 1999, she was sentenced to six years in prison after she was arrested heading a ‘dial-a-dealer’ operation.

“Twenty-five years have passed and she is doing the exact same thing,” Henley said.

The sentencing hearing resumes Wednesday with submissions from the defence.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.