Corrections justified in transfer of inmate

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This article was published 01/11/2023 (684 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A recent court decision reveals some insight into how federal corrections officials probe lucrative illicit drug trafficking in Stony Mountain prison.

The broad-strokes details of a Correctional Services Canada probe into an alleged trafficker were contained in the Court of King’s Bench decision released Friday.

Derek Zarichanski, a convicted killer, lost his bid to have Court of King’s Bench Justice Vic Toews deem his transfer from Stony Mountain prison’s minimum wing to its medium wing over alleged drug trafficking within the institution’s walls as unlawful, via an application for habeas corpus to the court.

Officials at the federal prison north of Winnipeg reclassified Zarichanski’s security risk and transferred him to the medium wing last November, after a probe found evidence to suggest he was allegedly trafficking THC oil and gabapentin, an anticonvulsant drug typically used to treat epilepsy but also used recreationally, within the institution.

Local Union of Canadian Correctional Officers officials have recently said they believe drug trafficking to be increasing at the prison, leading to violence, including a deadly riot in July this year.

In his application to the court, Zarichanski sought to be sent back to the prison’s minimum-security facility and have the allegations corrections officials relied on to transfer him to medium security be stricken from his personal file.

Zarichanski was convicted in a Manitoba court in 2006 of second-degree murder for fatally shooting Benjamin Marshall in 2001 in an apparently drug-related dispute.

He was initially sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 12 years. Toews’s decision notes he’s currently in the federal prison on an indeterminate life sentence.

In a brief provided to the court, corrections alleged that security intelligence officials at the prison had obtained information linking Zarichanski to the drug trade, before conducting a search of the minimum-security unit he resided in on Nov. 1 last year.

A correctional officer observed Zarichanski throw a sock into the bushes outside the building, it is alleged.

Officers retrieved the sock and found it contained gabapentin and THC concentrate with an estimated worth of over $60,000 within the prison’s walls, corrections alleged in the brief.

Zarichanski was immediately moved into medium security temporarily, while his security classification was reviewed by corrections, according to the brief.

Corrections officials then brought a drug dog team to examine Zarichanski’s room, finding a “positive indication” inside.

A security intelligence officer then interviewed Zarichanski, who initially denied involvement, but then admitted to throwing the sock — but maintained someone else had given it to him, the brief said. Toews’ decision notes another inmate reportedly admitted to possessing and throwing the drugs to Zarichanski and two prison staffers.

He then recanted his confession to his parole officer the following day. His case management team then completed a security classification, recommending he be placed in medium security.

Zarichanski then made his habeas corpus application this July, seeking to have the transfer deemed an unlawful deprivation of liberty, questioning the reliability of reports made by corrections staffers, among other legal concerns with the transfer.

Toews, after reviewing the application, dismissed it, concluding that corrections officials made a reasonable and lawful decision to reclassify Zarichanski.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca