Criminal charges dismissed against Calgary 911 operator accused of feeding police info to gang members
A former Calgary 911 operator accused of feeding protected police information to the rivals of alleged gang members, walked away from her criminal charges Monday after pleading guilty to offences under Alberta's Freedom of Information and Privacy (FOIP) Act.
Marian Buonincontri, 59, was originally facing charges of breach of trust, fraudulent use of a computer system and mischief relating to police data.
Instead, she pleaded guilty to three counts of collecting, using, and/or disclosing personal information between March 1, 2022 to Jan. 26, 2023.
On Monday, Justice Karen Molle agreed with a joint sentencing recommendation and imposed a $30,000 fine — $10,000 for each offence.
After pleading guilty to the FOIP Act charges, Justice Molle dismissed Buonincontri's criminal charges.
Buonincontri was a senior emergency communications officer who worked for Calgary 911 services from May 2013 to January 2023.
"To effectively fulfil those duties, the defendant was allowed to access a number of databases" that contained personal information of individuals, according to an agreed statement of facts (ASF).
At the time of her arrest in January 2024, police alleged Buonincontri searched information on organized crime figures in Calgary and then fed that information to rival gangsters.
According to the ASF, prepared by organized crime prosecutor Brian Holtby and defence lawyer Pat Fagan, Buonincontri admitted to taking photos of computer screens at her workplace, using her personal cell phone.
Buonincontri's plea did not, however, involve any admission that she was involved in organized crime.
But details from court documents filed in support of a 2023 search warrant tell a different story.
200 screenshots found on phone
At the time of her arrest, Calgary police said they'd discovered more than 200 screenshots of database searches on Buonincontri's seized electronic devices.
Police were led to Buonincontri after discovering the screenshots on the devices of two men arrested in two different drug trafficking investigations in 2022.
The two men were connected to the FK and Independent Soldier gangs, two notorious and violent criminal organizations in Calgary, according to the search warrant application filed as part of the Buonincontri investigation.
Investigators believed Buonincontri used her high-level security clearance and access to confidential police databases to search the names and licence plate numbers of known gang associates, providing the results to rival organized crime groups.
Police discover a leak
A search warrant application known as an ITO (information to obtain) outlines details of the evidence police collected to support warrants to search the cell phones of Buonincontri, Steven Mark and Domenico Loiacono.
According to the ITO, Loiacono "has been found to associate with members of the Independent Soldiers," a B.C.-based gang with strong ties to Calgary.
When Loiacono — who is currently serving a prison sentence for drug trafficking — was arrested on extortion and trafficking charges in 2022, police seized and searched his cell phone, ultimately finding screenshots of CPS database searches.
The images contained the names and personal details, including licence plate numbers and addresses of people under investigation by CPS.
Police launched an investigation aimed at tracking down a leak within the Calgary Police Service.
Second arrest
Then it happened again.
A month after the Loiacono arrest, police took Steven Mark into custody in connection with a drug trafficking investigation.
In searching his seized iPhone, investigators found three more concerning images, screengrabs of protected police database information.
Mark, according to the ITO, "has been found to associate with members of the FK, which is a known organized crime group."
The FK group is responsible for a number of shootings and homicides in Calgary.
Police looked into which of its employees had searched the information found on the two men's phones between April and December 2022.
According to the ITO, the searches were all done by Marian Buonincontri.
Buonincontri has not worked for the city since she was placed on leave in January 2023.
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