Health plea wins sentencing delay

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This article was published 07/03/2024 (551 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg woman arrested for being part of a decades-old drug ring hopes her deteriorating health is enough to keep her out of prison, but the Crown says she will receive proper care if sentenced to time in custody.

Amanda Rouse, 55, was among two dozen people arrested in April 2021 following a lengthy police investigation dubbed Project Matriarch targeting admitted ringleader Sandra Guiboche.

Rouse pleaded guilty last October to one count of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. She’ll have to wait another two months to learn her fate.

Prosecutors urged King’s Bench Justice Jeffrey Harris Wednesday to sentence Rouse to three years in prison, while defence lawyer Mitch Merriott recommended she be allowed to serve a sentence of two years or less under house arrest.

“A lot of our position is going to be based on her medical status and why a conditional sentence order is appropriate,” Merriott said.

Merriott asked that the sentencing hearing be adjourned until after the expected receipt of medical reports later this month that he said will shed more light on Rouse’s medical status.

“It is our position your lordship would be in a better position to weigh those factors with all the information at sentencing,” Merriott said.

Crown attorney Kate Henley opposed the adjournment, saying Rouse’s case has been repeatedly delayed due to “constant back and forth related to medical issues.”

Henley said she received long-requested medical reports only last weekend that suggested Rouse suffered from “gastric-related” health issues.

“I was under the impression it was supposed to be a cancer diagnosis, and that is not what is reflected here,” Henley said. “Essentially, there is nothing to suggest Ms. Rouse would not be able to be adequately cared for in (prison).”

Harris ordered that the sentencing hearing proceed, but in the end had to set an additional hearing date for May 3. By the time the Crown had finished its submission, there wasn’t time left to hear from the defence.

“So you get your adjournment, Mr. Merriott,” Harris said.

Police seized more than $2.3 million in property and drugs as part of the Project Matriarch investigation, with criminal forfeitures filed for 10 residential properties in Point Douglas and nine bank accounts owned by Guiboche.

In a 2021 sworn affidavit, provincial property forfeiture officials alleged Guiboche had been selling drugs in Point Douglas for 25 years and is known for selling pink-coloured crack cocaine — a sort of branding for her product.

Guiboche and Rouse were one-time partners in a now-defunct home renovation business, S and M Reno and Rays. At a 2014 sentencing for drug possession, Guiboche’s lawyer described her as a “struggling businesswoman.”

An agreed statement of facts provided to court says Rouse was co-owner of five of the properties, three of which were rented out to members of the drug ring and used to stash cocaine. Rouse stashed drugs at her own Talbot Avenue home in return for cash and drugs.

She also helped Guiboche with her taxes and laundered drug proceeds under the guise of rental income.

Rouse “is using her particular skills and helping to insulate the top person in charge evade taxes and hide her money,” Henley said.

Evidence gathered in the police investigation included more than 60,000 wiretap recordings, on a number of which Guiboche and Rouse could be heard discussing laundering drug proceeds at casinos, day-to-day operations in the drug ring, and how to avoid detection from the Canada Revenue Agency.

In a Jan. 25, 2021 conversation, Guiboche told Rouse to make a series of bank deposits, but to keep them under $4,000, “otherwise it will be on the radar.”

In a Feb. 7, 2021 conversation, Rouse told Guiboche to watch what she buys with cash, because it “flags things.” Guiboche told her she used a line of credit to buy a new house, but was only putting a “couple of thousand” a month on the mortgage “so it is not suspicious.”

Henley said some of the wiretaps suggest Rouse was making efforts to “disentangle” herself from the drug enterprise, including trying to remove herself from title of the drug houses.

In a pre-sentence report, Rouse said she was “intimidated” by Guiboche, a claim that’s in line, Henley said, with the evidence of wiretaps that show Guiboche threatened or ordered violence be inflicted on underlings who had crossed her.

Guiboche, 60, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and is awaiting sentencing. The Crown argued she should spend 10 years in prison.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca