Latest news with #Facey
Global News
10 hours ago
- Global News
Off-duty Toronto cop avoids jail time for teen's assault in ‘Kijiji deal gone bad'
An off-duty Toronto police officer guilty of assaulting a teenager during a 'Kijiji deal gone bad' has been handed a suspended sentence and 12 months probation. Const. Calvin Au was also given a three-year weapons ban by Superior Court Justice Jennifer Woollcombe inside a Brampton, Ont., courtroom Wednesday. 'I am very concerned that despite his police training, Au demonstrated the unwillingness to assess the situation and then used excessive force,' Woollcombe said in part. 'In a situation where there were many other better options, his judgement was extremely poor.' Au was found guilty of assault, but not guilty of assault causing bodily harm, in November for the April 26, 2021, incident involving 19-year-old Chadd Facey. That day, off-duty Toronto police Const. Gurmakh Benning agreed to meet Facey to purchase an Apple Watch after he had posted on Kijiji to sell it. Story continues below advertisement 2:08 Assault trial for Toronto cop begins During the trial, court heard Benning had asked Au, his partner, to accompany him, given he viewed Au as more tech savvy and wanted him to authenticate the watch. Facey negotiated a price of $400 with Benning. Dressed in plain clothes, the two met Facey in the parking lot at Beryl Ford Public School on Ironshield Drive, near Cottrelle Boulevard and Highway 50, in Brampton for the transaction. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Benning had purchased the watch before realizing it was counterfeit. Facey took off and following a five-minute foot pursuit with Au, Benning caught up to him and got his money back. At the trial, Benning testified that Au took Facey down, without saying anything, because he thought Au didn't know that he had already got his money back. Au testified, in his own defence, that he didn't know Benning had got his money back and took down Facey because he was going to arrest him. However, he did not identify himself as an officer or say he was arresting Facey. Woollcombe said she found that problematic when she delivered her ruling. Story continues below advertisement Woollcombe said in her ruling she found Au used force that was 'excessive and unreasonable.' 'The force Au used was out of proportion with the objective of getting the money back,' Woollcombe said. 2:01 An off-duty Toronto Police officer has been charged with manslaughter. Au was originally charged with manslaughter, but the charge was later downgraded to assault causing bodily harm. At the beginning of the trial, an agreed statement of facts was entered that said 'the Crown is not in a position to allege that Facey's death was caused by the interaction with Au.' Benning had called 911 and told the dispatcher about the 'Kijiji deal gone bad' before the off-duty officers took off. Facey had called his friends who had earlier dropped him off at the location where the transaction took place after the rip-off. The friends testified they arrived on scene after the assault and picked him up. Story continues below advertisement A few hours later, Facey's friends noticed a bump on his forehead. He later died in hospital because of an intracerebral hemorrhage. Woollcombe found that the forensic evidence was not clear on how Facey got a bruise on his forehead and said the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Au was guilty of assault causing bodily harm. Crown prosecutors were asking Au to serve four months in custody, followed by 12 months' probation, as well as a five-year weapons ban and DNA order. Au's defence was asking for a conditional discharge and said a DNA order was not necessary Woollcombe said Wednesday Au needed to be sentenced for the assault he was convicted of, and not for causing Facey's death. 'The sentence must not seek to punish him for Facey's death or the effect it's had on his family,' Woollcombe said. 'I'm mindful that any conviction will put Au's career in jeopardy. I do not think it is necessary to impose … a sentence that will inevitably result in his dismissal.' Woollcombe ruled Au should have no communication with Facey's family, take anger management counselling as directed by his probation officer and be subject to a DNA order. Should he remain employed by the Toronto Police Service, he should take remedial training and 50 hours of community service focused on improving relations between police and the Black community, Woollcombe ruled. Story continues below advertisement 'While the incident has caused a loss of public confidence with police within the Black community, no evidence it was motivated because Facey was black; race was irrelevant to them,' Woollcombe wrote. Au has been suspended with pay since the charges were laid, and is still facing charges under provincial legislation governing policing.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Come to the dark side': California inmate used lawyer in Alaska fentanyl empire, feds say
Before he worked for what he allegedly called "the cartel," Justin Facey's law career was unremarkable. Facey's modest solo practice was based in a gray Anchorage office building, where he shared space with personal injury attorneys, a chiropractor and a financial advisor. His website advertised expertise in defending run-of-the-mill cases: DUI, domestic violence, theft, assault. But in 2023, Facey took on a client who changed his firm's fortunes — and brought him under the eye of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Agents were monitoring the phone of a California inmate who was suspected of trafficking huge amounts of drugs to Alaska when they read a text message that Facey allegedly sent to a fellow lawyer. "Come to the dark side," he wrote in the message, which was cited in court documents. "I just signed a lease on a HUGE new office space. Three attorney offices, plus a paralegal bullpen, reception area, etc." Prosecutors say Facey broke the law working for Heraclio Sanchez Rodriguez, who has been serving a life sentence in California since 1998. Last week, Facey, 44, was charged with maintaining a "drug-involved premises," as well as possessing a shotgun, rifle and two handguns while selling meth and fentanyl. A lawyer for Facey, who has pleaded not guilty, didn't immediately provide a comment. From his prison cell in Monterey County, Sanchez, 58, used contraband cellphones to direct one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in Alaska history, federal authorities say. More than 60 people are accused of colluding with Sanchez to smuggle fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin from Southern California to Alaska, where the narcotics were sold at staggering markups. Read more: California inmate recruited 'wives' to spread fentanyl across Alaska, feds say Sanchez has pleaded not guilty to charges that he trafficked drugs, laundered money and had two women kidnapped, murdered and buried in the Alaskan wilderness. Facey acted as consigliere to Sanchez and, after his law license was suspended in February, became a drug dealer himself, prosecutors wrote in a motion seeking to jail the attorney pending a trial. According to prosecutors, Facey began working for Sanchez in June 2023, around the time that the DEA tapped the prisoner's cellphone. Agents intercepted text messages in which Facey and Sanchez talked about using a private plane to spirit away an underling who had narrowly avoided arrest in Anchorage, prosecutors wrote in the bail motion. Facey said he knew a pilot who could fly her to Montana. "Let me contact my people to be ready to take her out the country," Sanchez replied. The attorney later thanked Sanchez for having a package of fentanyl delivered to his home, prosecutors wrote. "I feel funny not paying — we can credit it for when you need some legal work done, if you want?" Facey wrote in a text message. The lawyer and prisoner also allegedly discussed using laundering drug profits. In a text message cited by prosecutors, Facey complimented Sanchez for using "girls" as a "little revenue laundromat." Sanchez is accused of ordering the murder of Sunday Powers, an Alaskan woman who was caught at an airport carrying $20,000 of Sanchez's money. With Sanchez as a client, Facey bragged about his newfound wealth to "anyone in the Anchorage community who might listen," prosecutors said in the bail motion. In a text message, Facey allegedly wrote: "The cartel has retained my office for all their Alaska needs. So there's guaranteed revenue, in cash, at the full hourly rate for the forseeable future." Facey said after he got a member of "the cartel" acquitted, "There was a knock on my door. Package sitting right there when I opened it. Inside was a watch manufactured by a very reputable purveyor of timepieces, two ounces of legit Bolivian flake and a brochure for the suite level at the Venetian." Despite the boasts, Facey's practice was collapsing. Clients filed 13 "grievances" and six payment disputes with the Alaska state bar about Facey, who had an ounce-a-day meth habit, prosecutors wrote in the motion to keep Facey jailed. Facey also engaged in "compulsive sexual misconduct," prosecutors wrote. An unnamed witness told authorities the lawyer was a "pig" and "disgusting slob" who extorted sex from her in exchange for legal representation, according to the motion to prevent his release. After his license was suspended, Facey turned to selling drugs, according to prosecutors. By April, he told associates in text messages he was facing eviction. He posted in a public Facebook group for R.V. owners, writing, "Heya! I'm right in the middle of an unexpected, abrupt major life and career implosion, and I've decided to embrace the silver lining." He was thinking of selling everything he owned but his R.V., he wrote. Accompanied by his daughter and granddaughter, he'd leave Alaska "with no specific plan in mind but to roam the earth for a bit," he wrote, "until something or somewhere grabs our attention." Facey is now in jail after a judge tentatively denied him bail. His lawyer will argue for his release in a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
28-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
‘Come to the dark side': California inmate used lawyer in Alaska fentanyl empire, feds say
Before he worked for what he allegedly called 'the cartel,' Justin Facey's law career was unremarkable. Facey's modest solo practice was based in a gray Anchorage office building, where he shared space with personal injury attorneys, a chiropractor and a financial advisor. His website advertised expertise in defending run-of-the-mill cases: DUI, domestic violence, theft, assault. But in 2023, Facey took on a client who changed his firm's fortunes — and brought him under the eye of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Agents were monitoring the phone of a California inmate who was suspected of trafficking huge amounts of drugs to Alaska when they read a text message that Facey allegedly sent to a fellow lawyer. 'Come to the dark side,' he wrote in the message, which was cited in court documents. 'I just signed a lease on a HUGE new office space. Three attorney offices, plus a paralegal bullpen, reception area, etc.' Prosecutors say Facey broke the law working for Heraclio Sanchez Rodriguez, who has been serving a life sentence in California since 1998. Last week, Facey, 44, was charged with maintaining a 'drug-involved premises,' as well as possessing a shotgun, rifle and two handguns while selling meth and fentanyl. A lawyer for Facey, who has pleaded not guilty, didn't immediately provide a comment. From his prison cell in Monterey County, Sanchez, 58, used contraband cellphones to direct one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in Alaska history, federal authorities say. More than 60 people are accused of colluding with Sanchez to smuggle fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin from Southern California to Alaska, where the narcotics were sold at staggering markups. Sanchez has pleaded not guilty to charges that he trafficked drugs, laundered money and had two women kidnapped, murdered and buried in the Alaskan wilderness. Facey acted as consigliere to Sanchez and, after his law license was suspended in February, became a drug dealer himself, prosecutors wrote in a motion seeking to jail the attorney pending a trial. According to prosecutors, Facey began working for Sanchez in June 2023, around the time that the DEA tapped the prisoner's cellphone. Agents intercepted text messages in which Facey and Sanchez talked about using a private plane to spirit away an underling who had narrowly avoided arrest in Anchorage, prosecutors wrote in the bail motion. Facey said he knew a pilot who could fly her to Montana. 'Let me contact my people to be ready to take her out the country,' Sanchez replied. The attorney later thanked Sanchez for having a package of fentanyl delivered to his home, prosecutors wrote. 'I feel funny not paying — we can credit it for when you need some legal work done, if you want?' Facey wrote in a text message. The lawyer and prisoner also allegedly discussed using laundering drug profits. In a text message cited by prosecutors, Facey complimented Sanchez for using 'girls' as a 'little revenue laundromat.' Sanchez is accused of ordering the murder of Sunday Powers, an Alaskan woman who was caught at an airport carrying $20,000 of Sanchez's money. With Sanchez as a client, Facey bragged about his newfound wealth to 'anyone in the Anchorage community who might listen,' prosecutors said in the bail motion. In a text message, Facey allegedly wrote: 'The cartel has retained my office for all their Alaska needs. So there's guaranteed revenue, in cash, at the full hourly rate for the forseeable future.' Facey said after he got a member of 'the cartel' acquitted, 'There was a knock on my door. Package sitting right there when I opened it. Inside was a watch manufactured by a very reputable purveyor of timepieces, two ounces of legit Bolivian flake and a brochure for the suite level at the Venetian.' Despite the boasts, Facey's practice was collapsing. Clients filed 13 'grievances' and six payment disputes with the Alaska state bar about Facey, who had an ounce-a-day meth habit, prosecutors wrote in the motion to keep Facey jailed. Facey also engaged in 'compulsive sexual misconduct,' prosecutors wrote. An unnamed witness told authorities the lawyer was a 'pig' and 'disgusting slob' who extorted sex from her in exchange for legal representation, according to the motion to prevent his release. After his license was suspended, Facey turned to selling drugs, according to prosecutors. By April, he told associates in text messages he was facing eviction. He posted in a public Facebook group for R.V. owners, writing, 'Heya! I'm right in the middle of an unexpected, abrupt major life and career implosion, and I've decided to embrace the silver lining.' He was thinking of selling everything he owned but his R.V., he wrote. Accompanied by his daughter and granddaughter, he'd leave Alaska 'with no specific plan in mind but to roam the earth for a bit,' he wrote, 'until something or somewhere grabs our attention.' Facey is now in jail after a judge tentatively denied him bail. His lawyer will argue for his release in a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday.
