This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Key player in Quebec maple syrup heist ordered to pay $10-million fine
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Richard Vallières, one of the key players in Quebec’s infamous maple syrup heist, does indeed have to pay a $10-million fine for his crimes or serve another six years behind bars.
The decision delivered Thursday morning re-establishes the sentence Valliéres, 43, received in 2017 following a trial in Trois-Rivières. He was recently granted day parole on his sentence of seven years and 10 months. But Superior Court Justice Raymond Pronovost ordered five years ago that Vallières serve a six-year prison term consecutively if he is unable to pay a $10-million fine within 10 years.
The fine is based on the value of the gallons of maple syrup Vallières admitted that he sold. He admitted he made $1 million in profit from those sales. He appealed the fine and the Quebec Court of Appeal reduced it to $1 million.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled the appellate court was wrong. It ruled Vallières is “required to pay a fine equal to the value of the property that was in his possession or under his control, that is, $10,000,000. Even though the amount of the fine in lieu may seem high, it is warranted in light of the scheme for the forfeiture of proceeds of crime.
“The fine imposed on Mr. Vallières is set at $9,171,397.57, that is, $10,000,000 minus the amount of the restitution order, $828,602.43. Mr. Vallières has 10 years to pay this fine, in default of which he is subject to imprisonment for six years consecutive to any other term of imprisonment.�
The fine set by Pronovost was based on the value of the property that was in Vallière’s possession or under his control after the maple syrup was stolen.
“This amount is warranted in light of the scheme for the forfeiture of proceeds of crime, under which a fine must, in principle, be equal to the value of the property of which an offender had possession or control at some point in time. Because a court does not have the discretion to limit the amount of a fine in lieu to the profit made by an offender from their criminal activities, the Court of Appeal assumed a discretion it did not have when it reduced (Vallières’) fine,� the Supreme Court wrote in its 35-page decision.
During the summer of 2012, Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec — the organization that oversees the marketing of maple syrup for Quebec producers and acts as a regulated sales agency — realized that 9,571 barrels of syrup, out of 16,224 stored at its warehouse in St-Louis-de-Blandford, had been emptied. The syrup stored in those barrels had been replaced with water. The federation called the Sûreté du Québec and reported that $17.8 million worth of maple syrup had been stolen from the group, which represents more than 7,000 syrup producers.
The investigation revealed that Avik Caron, the husband of one of four people who owned the warehouse, hatched the plan to steal the syrup and offered most of it to Vallières.
More than 20 people were arrested in the SQ’s investigation, and Vallières received one of the harshest sentences. When the SQ began making arrests, news of the investigation made international headlines.
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