Pre-trial motions for a high-profile court case involving the largest-ever fentanyl bust in Sault Ste. Marie are scheduled to be heard in Ontario Superior Court over the course of three days later this year.
As first reported by SooToday, Richard Brewster, Leyla Ibrahim and Tequar Jones will stand trial during a two-week period in mid-November — nearly three years after a joint police operation took more than $1 million in illicit drugs off the streets in three Ontario cities, including the Sault.
Approximately $470,000 worth of narcotics was seized by Sault Ste. Marie Police Service in January 2023 while executing search warrants in the 600 block of MacDonald Avenue, including 700 grams of fentanyl — a record one-time seizure by police in the Sault.
Stacks of cash totalling approximately $74,000 and a motor vehicle that was allegedly stolen were also seized in the bust. Five people were arrested.
Another $620,000 in illicit drugs was seized following the execution of search warrants in Oshawa and Whitby as part of Project Otter, a joint operation between Sault Police, Durham Regional Police Service and the Thunder Bay Police Service.
Brewster, Ibrahim and 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 in December 2023.
None of the allegations have been tested in court and all three of the accused are considered innocent unless proven guilty.
The other two individuals charged in the massive drug bust have since had all charges against them dropped. Charges against O’Shane Davis-Forbes were withdrawn in the Ontario Court of Justice in September 2023. Charges against Maurice Fidd, meanwhile, were stayed by the courts in March 2023.
As previously reported by SooToday, both Fidd and Davis-Forbes have been arrested and charged with similar drug offences in Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury in the past.
Brewster — an alleged member of the Toronto Driftwood Crips who’s also known as hip hop artist Richie Stacks — was originally arrested and charged by Sault Police in November 2022 for allegedly having a stolen car in his possession without a driver’s licence or car insurance, court documents show.
That charge has since been included as part of the Superior Court indictment.
The 43-year-old is represented by Kim Schofield of Schofield Macchia LLP, a Toronto-based law firm that specializes in offences involving drugs, weapons and sexual assault.
In June 2024, a Superior Court judge approved an application for Brewster’s release from custody at Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre — with a number of strict conditions attached — while he awaits trial.
Jones was granted a similar release order the following month, court records show.
The trio will face trial by jury for two weeks beginning Nov. 10, with pre-trial motions scheduled to be heard July 25, Sept. 18 and Oct. 14.