Alleged gang member charged in Sault's biggest fentanyl case wants out of prison

One of three people charged in Sault's largest fentanyl case so far is asking Ontario Superior Court to be freed until the case goes to jury next year .

In a 32-page request for review of his detention, legal counsel for Richard Anderson Brewster – aka. Richie Stacks, an alleged member of the Toronto Driftwood Crips, says the 42-year-old from Oshawa, Ont. The resident should be released from the Algoma Treatment and Remand Center (ATRC) due to “legal errors” made by Justice of the Peace Diane Lafleur in the analysis of secondary and tertiary grounds during the pretrial phase. Brewster's bail.

His lawyers argue that Judge LaFleur gave “inappropriate weight” to the “unsupported assumptions” surrounding the allegations and the plaintiff, relying “heavily on statistical information regarding the impact of opioids on northern communities, even though the bail is an individual assessment.” They also claim that Judge LaFleur “misused the facts and evidence provided” to suggest that Brewster is involved in organized crime.

In addition to these assertions, Schofield Macchia LLP further asserts that the ATRC failed to bring Brewster to his 90-day bail review and scheduled remand appearances. He would have been eligible for this bail review on June 14, 2023.

Brewster and four others were arrested after more than $1 million worth of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine were seized in Sault Ste. Marie and the Durham Regional Police Service during the execution of warrants in Oshawa, Whitby and Sault in January 2023 as part of Project Otter. Sault police's drug bust on MacDonald Avenue yielded 700 grams of fentanyl — a record single haul for the police department.

Brewster, Leyla Ibrahim and Tequar Jones initially faced charges in the Ontario Court of Justice for their alleged role in trafficking large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine in Sault Ste. Marie and in possession of more than $5,000 in cash obtained by crime.

Those charges were then transferred to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice – reserved for the most serious criminal offenses in Ontario – after the trio were indicted last December.

None of the allegations have been tested in court and the defendants in this case are considered innocent until proven guilty.

Brewster's 32-page detention review application sheds new light on the night of the police arrest – an operation that had been in the works for months and preceded the arrests and drug seizures that occurred in three cities in Ontario almost three years ago.

In January 2022, Sault Ste. Marie received information from a confidential source regarding an individual known as “Stacks,” who was “the largest supplier in Sault Ste. Marie.” Another confidential source provided police with two telephone numbers used to contact him.

Eight months later, a source informed police of Brewster's whereabouts, as well as the names of other people. Project Otter was then launched in September 2022. Around the same time, the Durham Regional Police Department launched its own investigation into Brewster, Project Attic, after receiving information from confidential sources.

During this time, Brewster was under investigation for firearms offenses and violations of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, a federal law dealing with drug control.

It turns out that Brewster was arrested by the police twice during the duration of Project Otter and Project Attic. The first time was on November 4, 2022 in Sault Ste. Marie, when he was arrested and charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 for alleged possession of a “re-vinded” stolen vehicle. He was later released on a promise to appear in court.

He was arrested a second time on November 26, 2022 in Parry Sound, Ontario. when he stopped at a closed gas station – likely to avoid a RIDE stop by the Ontario Provincial Police and the Anishinabek Police Service.

Court documents suggest there were several people in the vehicle at the time. Police informed them they were under investigation for obstructing justice before carrying out a search, under the Control of Cannabis Act, after smelling cannabis in the vehicle.

Police seized nearly $51,000 in Canadian currency and gave Brewster 90 days to provide proof the money was not the proceeds of crime. The 90-day period expired in February 2023. Both charges stemming from the vehicle stops have since been stayed in the Ontario Court of Justice. However, the allegation regarding the stolen vehicle in Sault was added to the indictment filed in Ontario Superior Court.

In January 2023, the Durham Regional Police Service obtained four search warrants for three different locations in addition to a vehicle believed to be linked to Brewster:

• His home address in Oshawa, Ontario.
• A condominium in Whitby, Ontario. praised by Leyla Ibrahim
• An apartment on MacDonald Avenue in Sault Ste. Mary praised by Leyla Ibrahim
• A black Honda CRV allegedly driven by Brewster

The arrest warrants were executed around 5 a.m. on January 16, 2023. Sault police found Ibrahim and Jones — along with two others, Maurice Fidd and O'Shane Davis-Forbes — in various rooms of a home rental of Heritage Place apartments on January 16, 2023. MacDonald Avenue. Brewster allegedly jumped out of a two-story bedroom window before being apprehended by police outside a nearby address.

Despite the summary of facts provided by Brewster's lawyers, they say his continued detention is not justified. Schofield Macchia LLP — a downtown Toronto-based law firm specializing in drug, weapons and sexual assault offenses — also informed the court that Brewster now has four sureties who have pledged more than $300,000 between them, and pitched the idea to him. wear a GPS tracking device if the request for release is granted by the court.

Brewster, Ibrahim and Jones will stand trial for a number of offenses relating to drug trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime in November next year. The charges against Fidd and Davis-Forbes have since been dropped.

“With respect, the applicant's position is that his detention is not necessary, that there has been a material change in circumstances, legal errors were made during his bail hearing and that this court should grant him an order of release,” Brewster’s legal counsel said in the motion.

But the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, the Crown in this case, is adamant about keeping Brewster behind bars for the protection or safety of the public and to “maintain confidence in the administration of justice.”

The Crown believes the “considerable seriousness of the offences” and the strength of the Crown's case also weigh heavily in favor of Brewster's detention. She also did not accept the argument that Justice Lafleur had erred in relying on Brewster's involvement in a criminal organization and on the statistical analysis of the impacts of opioids in northern Ontario. Ontario.

“Statistical data demonstrates the alarming and deadly impact of the opioid crisis on northern communities. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized the inherently violent nature of drug trafficking,” the Crown said in its response, adding that the Supreme Court has recognized that drug trafficking “generally constitutes a form of organized crime.”

Brewster's detention review application will be heard Friday in Ontario Superior Court.