One of three people indicted in the Sault’s largest fentanyl bust to date is petitioning the Ontario Superior Court for a release from custody until the case is tried before a jury next year.
In a 32-page application for a review of his detention, legal counsel for Richard Anderson Brewster — a.ka. Richie Stacks, an alleged member of the Toronto Driftwood Crips — argues the 42-year-old Oshawa, Ont. resident should be released from the Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre (ATRC) due to “legal errors” made by Justice of the Peace Diane Lafleur in the analysis of secondary and tertiary grounds during Brewster’s bail phase.
His lawyers argue that Justice LaFleur gave “inappropriate weight” to “unsupported presuppositions” surrounding the allegations and the applicant, placing a “heavy reliance on the statistical information regarding the impact of opioids on northern communities despite bail being an individual assessment.” They also claim Justice LaFleur “misappropriated the facts and evidence provided” to suggest that Brewster is involved in organized crime.
In addition to those claims, Schofield Macchia LLP further argues that the ATRC failed to bring Brewster to his 90-day bail review and scheduled remand appearances. He would’ve been eligible for that bail review on June 14, 2023.
Brewster and four others were arrested after more than $1 million worth of fentanyl, meth and cocaine were seized by Sault Ste. Marie Police Service and Durham Regional Police Service while executing warrants in Oshawa, Whitby and the Sault in January 2023 as part of Project Otter. The drug bust executed by Sault Police on MacDonald Avenue produced 700 grams of fentanyl — a record one-time haul for the police service.
Brewster, Leyla Ibrahim and Tequar Jones were initially facing charges in the Ontario Court of Justice for their alleged roles in trafficking large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine in Sault Ste. Marie and possessing 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 offences in Ontario — after the trio was indicted this past December.
None of the allegations have been tested in court and the accused in the case are considered innocent unless proven guilty.
The application for Brewster’s detention review sheds new light on the night of the police takedown — a bust that had been in the works for months leading up to the arrests and drug seizures that went down in three Ontario cities nearly three years ago.
In January 2022, Sault Ste. Marie Police Service received information from a confidential source regarding an individual known as ‘Stacks,’ who was “the biggest supplier in Sault Ste. Marie.” Another confidential source provided police with two phone numbers used to contact him.
Eight months later, a source informed police of Brewster’s potential whereabouts, along with the names of other individuals. Project Otter was subsequently launched in September 2022. Around that same time, Durham Regional Police Service launched its own investigation into Brewster, Project Attic, after receiving information from confidential sources.
During this time, Brewster was being investigated for firearms offences and offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, a federal statute dealing with drug control.
It turns out Brewster was pulled over by police twice over the duration of Project Otter and Project Attic. The first time was Nov. 4, 2022 in Sault Ste. Marie, when he was arrested and charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 for allegedly possessing a stolen “re-vinned” vehicle. He was subsequently released on a promise to appear.
He was stopped a second time on Nov. 26, 2022 in Parry Sound Ont. when he pulled into a closed gas station — presumably to avoid a RIDE stop that was being conducted by Ontario Provincial Police and Anishinabek Police Service.
Court documents suggest there were multiple people in the vehicle at the time. Police advised them they were being investigated for obstructing justice before conducting a search, under the Cannabis Control Act, upon smelling the odour of cannabis in the vehicle.
Police seized nearly $51,000 in Canadian currency and gave Brewster 90 days to provide evidence that the cash was not proceeds of crime. The 90-day period elapsed in February 2023. Both charges stemming from the vehicle stops have since been stayed in the Ontario Court of Justice. However, the allegation surrounding the stolen vehicle in the Sault has been tacked onto the indictment in Ontario Superior Court.
In January 2023, Durham Regional Police Service obtained four search warrants for three different locations in addition to a vehicle believed to be related to Brewster:
- His home address in Oshawa, Ont.
- A condominium in Whitby, Ont. rented by Leyla Ibrahim
- An apartment on MacDonald Avenue in Sault Ste. Marie rented by Leyla Ibrahim
- A black Honda CRV that was allegedly driven by Brewster
The warrants were executed at around 5 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2023. Sault Police found Ibrahim, and Jones — along with two others, Maurice Fidd and O’Shane Davis-Forbes — in various rooms of a rental unit at Heritage Place Apartments on MacDonald Avenue. Brewster allegedly jumped out of a two-storey bedroom window before being apprehended by police in front of a nearby address.
Despite the summary of facts provided by Brewster’s lawyers, they contend that his continued detention isn’t justified. Schofield Macchia LLP — a law firm based in downtown Toronto that specializes in offences involving drugs, weapons and sexual assault — has also informed the court that Brewster now has four sureties that have pledged more than $300,000 between them, and have pitched the idea of him wearing a GPS tracking device if the application for his release from custody is granted by the court.
Brewster, Ibrahim and Jones will stand trial for a number of offences related to drug trafficking and the possession of property obtained by crime in November of next year. Charges against Fidd and Davis-Forbes have since been dropped.
“Respectfully, it is the applicant’s position that his detention is not necessary, that there has been a material change in circumstances, legal errors made in the course of his bail hearing, and that this court should grant him an order for release,” said Brewster's legal counsel in the application.
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 “significant gravity of the offences” and the strength of the Crown’s case also weighs heavily in favour of Brewster’s detention. It also didn’t buy the argument that Justice Lafleur erred by relying upon Brewster’s involvement in a criminal organization and statistical analysis of opioid impacts in northern Ontario.
“The statistical data demonstrated the alarming and deadly impact the opioid crisis has on northern communities. In addition, 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 acknowledged that drug trafficking “generally constitutes a form of organized crime.”
Brewster’s detention review application will be heard in Ontario Superior Court on Friday.