Gasps and tears filled a Winnipeg courtroom Tuesday afternoon as the admitted matriarch of a Point Douglas crack cocaine ring was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne issued the sentence to Sandra Guiboche, reading from a lengthy written decision, after hearing submissions from the Crown and defence earlier this month.
Guiboche, 60, was the primary target of a lengthy police investigation dubbed Project Matriarch, and is alleged to have been dealing drugs in the Point Douglas area on and off for 25 years.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Sandra Guiboche speaks with supporters outside the Law Courts during a break in her trial on June 19.
She was among 27 people arrested in the spring of 2021 following a months-long investigation that resulted in the seizure of more than $2.3 million worth of drugs and property.
Guiboche earlier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine.
Crown prosecutor Kate Henley sought a sentence of 10 years in prison, while defence lawyer Saul Simmonds asked for a sentence of between seven and eight years, citing her age, failing health and personal history.
She has mobility issues and at times uses a wheelchair. She was wheeled from the courtroom by sheriffs after the sentence, as her supporters cried and told her they loved her.
During the course of the six-month investigation, police intercepted 60,000 communications, a large volume of which captured Guiboche directing the actions of drug-ring participants, including six of her own family members.
The drug ring sold crack cocaine dyed pink — a branding for the product. Simmonds argued during trial she began with good intentions, trying to help already-addicted users who were getting sick by using tainted crack.
The province seized 10 properties Guiboche owned or co-owned with co-accused Amanda Rouse, three of which were rented out to members of the drug ring and used to process and stash drugs.
Court has heard Guiboche and other top members of the drug ring purchased kilos of powdered cocaine from three suppliers, which were then converted to crack at one of her properties on Lisgar Avenue. Once processed and packaged, the drugs were then picked up by “dishers” who distributed the drugs for sale by dealers at another Lisgar Avenue “crack shack.”
Guiboche has 25 prior criminal convictions, nine of them for drug offences. In 1999, she was sentenced to six years in prison after she was arrested for heading a “dial-a-dealer” operation.