3 Sask. men get prison over massive grow-op
Last Updated: Monday, April 21, 2008 | 9:36 AM CT
CBC News
Three men have been sentenced to prison terms for their involvement in what's been described as the biggest marijuana grow-op in Saskatchewan history.
Lawrence Hubert Agecoutay was sentenced in Regina on Monday to six years, Chester Fernand Girard to 5½ years and Robert Stanley Agecoutay, Lawrence's brother, to 3½ years for possession for the purpose of trafficking and production of marijuana.
The men were charged after RCMP raided a massive grow operation on the Pasqua First Nation northeast of Regina in the summer of 2005.
Police found 10 greenhouses containing 6,000 plants. Police also said the pot had a potential street value of $3 million and was the largest marijuana grow-op ever in Saskatchewan.
A jury found the three men guilty following a Court of Queen's Bench trial in February.
Lawrence Agecoutay, 52, the man who police say ran the operation, testified the plants weren't for sale, but were to be used as medicine to fight diabetes and cancer. He said the Creator told him to grow the marijuana.
The sentences Justice Frank Gerein gave out Monday were less than what the Crown was asking for and more than what the defence wanted.
The Crown wanted 15 years for Lawrence Agecoutay and Girard, and eight years for Robert Agecoutay.
The defence was asking for conditional sentences that could be served in the community, including curfews and electronic monitoring.
Three other men charged in connection with the grow-op bust were acquitted at trial.
