Ex-RCMP officer sentenced to two years for cocaine possession

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This article was published 11/04/2022 (1284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nearly four years after he was charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, one-time RCMP officer Wayne Shuttleworth lost his last bid to delay going into custody.

On Monday, a judge rejected Shuttleworth’s motion to adjourn sentencing so he could hire a new lawyer, and sentenced him to two years in prison.

“I am concerned what I have heard this morning is another attempt on Mr. Shuttleworth’s part to try and delay this matter further,” said Queen’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond.

Shuttleworth, who had already changed lawyers two times since his arrest in May 2018, told court he had “issues” with his current lawyer, Jonathan Pinx, and his decision not to request the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Shuttleworth’s sentence was jointly recommended by the Crown and defence, when Shuttleworth entered his guilty plea in April 2021, eliminating the need for a pre-sentence report, Grammond said.

“I don’t need a pre-sentence report… that ship has sailed,” the judge said.

Shuttleworth, 51, was a target of a four-month drug investigation when police executed a search warrant at his Winnipeg home and seized 355 grams of cocaine.

“He pleaded (guilty) on the basis he was stashing these drugs in his home and he knew what he was storing,” Crown attorney Laura Perron told court.

Court heard Shuttleworth has been on disability for eight years with back and neck problems, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and is the sole support for two children with special needs.

Shuttleworth claimed he agreed to use his home as a stash house to raise money for his mother’s cancer surgery. She has since died.

“I did what I did and it was stupid,” he said. “I’m not that bad guy. I just made a huge mistake.”

Shuttleworth’s sentencing was originally set for September, after he said he needed time to make arrangements for his children’s care.

Shuttleworth changed lawyers, resulting in another adjournment. A December sentencing hearing was adjourned yet again, after he told court he needed to undergo a COVID-19 test. A sentencing set for January was rescheduled due to a pandemic-related court closure.

After Grammond rejected his motion to change lawyer, Shuttleworth made one last appeal for delay, arguing again he needed time to arrange care for his children.

“You had a long time to make the arrangements you needed to make,” Grammond said. “I’m not in a position to allow any further delay in this matter.”

Shuttleworth served as an RCMP officer from 1991 to 1994, when he left the force because of post-traumatic stress disorder.

This is not the first time Shuttleworth has run afoul of the law since leaving the RCMP. In 2010, he was sentenced to three years in prison for trafficking guns for the Zig Zag Crew, a puppet club of the Hells Angels.

Lawyers told court at the time Shuttleworth had been in financial distress after turning in his badge and had turned to the organized crime network as a way to find camaraderie and make money for his young son’s birthday party.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca