A former peacekeeper went home Friday with the wife he threatened to kill after receiving a conditional sentence for a drunken night that saw him roaming his neighbourhood with a loaded handgun.

James Nissila received a 200-day conditional sentence to be followed by two years of probation. With credit for 19-days of pre-trial custody, his conditional sentence works out to 181 days.

In allowing Nissila to stay out of jail, Ontario court Justice Mitch Hoffman noted the offender’s “good character,” “impressive” efforts to rehabilitate before sentencing and his service to his country.

“He has been an asset to his family, to his community and to his country in ways beyond what most people could ever dream of doing,” said Hoffman.

Nissila, a former peacekeeper and member of the disbanded Canadian Forces Airborne Regiment, pleaded guilty in March to possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, possession of a prohibited device, unsafe storage of a firearm and two counts of uttering death threats.

He must spend the first 100 days of the conditional sentence confined to his home, except for school, work, medical appointments, religious services, legal obligations and child care responsibilities. For the remaining 81 days, he must obey a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Nissila, 45, is also prohibited from owning firearms for 10 years. He can’t communicate with several witnesses or their families and he can’t go back to his former Lakeshore neighbourhood. Nissila and his family sold their house after the incident.

He spent last July 21 playing baseball and drinking. Nissila, who has chronic pain from an injury he suffered in military service, also mixed the alcohol with medication. Then he returned home to find his children in the care of a babysitter.

He went through his Lakeshore neighbourhood in a fit of jealousy searching for his wife, yelling “I’m going to kill her. I’m going to put a bullet in her head. I’ll kill that bitch.”

When a neighbour went to his home to get his young daughters out of the house, Nissila confronted her with a handgun. With the gun in hand, Nissila then went through the neighbourhood pounding on doors.

After arresting him at gunpoint, police searched his house. They found a loaded .45-calibre Colt semi-automatic handgun and a loaded magazine under his bed. In the basement, police found a .223-calibre semiautomatic rifle stored with two illegal magazines, each capable of holding 30 ammunition cartridges.

Police also found several other rifles and shotguns in the garage, along with a .38-calibre Smith and Wesson revolver in the attic above the garage.

Nissila’s wife, who supported him in court, refused to co-operate with police. Court heard Friday she believed police and the Children’s Aid Society took the situation too seriously.

Hoffman said he believed Nissila never would have ended up in court if he hadn’t “unwisely consumed pain medication and a significant amount of alcohol.” Hoffman said the incident was “shockingly out of character” for Nissila, who had little memory of what happened.

The judge said Nissila has some anger issues and an “intense personality,” but overall is a good person.

“To say he is a man of good character is somewhat of an understatement,” said Hoffman.

He also acknowledged that Nissila took  responsibility for his actions and has tried to improve himself through counselling, addiction and chronic pain management programs.

“I have never seen anybody that has taken the rehabilitative effort Mr. Nissila has before sentencing,” said Hoffman.

A Windsor man was sentenced to probation Monday after animal cruelty officers found dozens of sick and starving cats in an Ouellette Avenue apartment building, along with 155 dead ones stuffed in fridges and freezers.

Jerry Miernecki pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an order under the OSPCA Act and permitting animals to be in distress by not providing veterinary care.

“It was very disturbing, but it’s important to remember how easily things can get out of hand,” said Melanie Coulter, the humane society’s executive director. “Cats can reproduce very quickly, and a small number can turn into a large number very quickly if they’re not spayed or neutered.

“Especially if you’ve got mental health issues involved, that can complicate the situation even further. So we really encourage people if you have concerns about someone, a friend, a relative or neighbour, to contact us early before things get out of hand.”

Miernecki received one year of probation. For the rest of his life, he’s allowed to own only one pet at a time and it must be spayed or neutered. If he’s staying with someone else who owns pets, Miernecki can live with no more than three animals at a time. He is currently living with his brother.

A psychologist noted that Miernecki suffers from mental health problems, and living with a pet would likely help him.

The maximum penalty would have been two years and 30 days in prison plus a $61,000 fine.

On Dec. 14, humane society officers seized 49 live cats and 155 dead ones from two units at 920 Ouellette Ave. Fridges and freezers were full of dead cats. Some cats had turned to cannibalizing others.

The day before, officers issued orders under the OSPCA Act requiring the residents to provide food, water, clean litter boxes and a clean area for the cats. Officers moved in and seized the animals after the deadline for compliance passed. The person living in the second unit wasn’t charged.

“In this situation we don’t believe there was malicious intent,” said Coulter. “He has accepted responsibility for his actions. Our focus here is trying to prevent it from happening again, and we believe that the lifetime ban on owning more than one cat will have that effect.”

The trial of a Windsor woman accused of plotting to drug and kill her estranged husband began in Ontario court Wednesday with legal arguments over whether investigating officers denied the accused her rights.

Mary Agpaoa pleaded not guilty before Justice Gregory Campbell to charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and soliciting another person to traffic and obtain the so called “date rape” drug GHB acid.

The Crown alleges the purpose of the narcotic was to “stupify” the accused’s husband, Bienvenido Agpaoa, so that he could be killed.

But the complicated trial, expected to take 20 days spaced over several months,  got off to a slow start, with the judge hearing legal arguments over whether the woman was properly notified of her rights to remain silent and obtain legal counsel and if her subsequent statements to police were voluntary.

The court heard that Agpaoa turned up on her own April 6, 2012, to the downtown Windsor Police Service headquarters and surrendered to the officer at the main desk after learning her husband had laid a complaint against her.

She was arrested and charged with assault with a weapon for allegedly hitting her husband with a bar from a steering wheel anti-theft locking device in mid March.

She was later released from jail. However, 1o days later on April 16, Agpaoa was arrested again, this time on a charge of attempted murder.

Det. James Lepine testified that police obtained information that convinced investigators the simple domestic violence case warranted an upgrade to attempted murder. The file was taken over by the police service’s major crimes unit. Later that day, officers, including members of the tactical unit, went to an address in the 1200 block of Marentette Avenue and took Agpaoa into custody.

Outside court, defence lawyer Laura Joy suggested the evidence police relied upon came from retrieved electronic text messages that her client had exchanged with a new boyfriend.

But, she added, the contents of the messages “were fantasies” and that, to be considered conspiracy to attempt murder, her client would have had to have demonstrated  “taking steps to act upon them.” Joy said Agpaoa did not.

“My client is innocent and had no intention of killing her husband.”

She said the injuries resulting from the initial  steering wheel bar incident were considered by doctors to be not serious, let alone life threatening.

Joy said that following the second arrest, her client’s right to remain silent was not respected and statements she gave were not voluntary.

Crown prosecutor Jane Magri declined comment.

A five-year-old case concerning allegations of abuse of female migrant workers in Wheatley continued on Monday at a human rights tribunal.

The case involves a number of complaints from 2008 against Jose Pratas, former owner of Presteve Foods Ltd. — an Essex County fish processing plant.

In 2011, Pratas pleaded guilty to one count of assault for inappropriately touching female workers who were from Mexico and Thailand. He was granted a conditional discharge.

Following the criminal case, some of the workers applied for damages against Pratas via the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

Tuesday’s hearing was only the latest in a series that have taken place since September 2011.

The majority of the workers who originally complained about Pratas have settled out of court. Three remain.

On Tuesday, intervening party Justicia for Migrant Workers called for testimony from Kerry Preibisch, a University of Guelph anthropologist, who suggested that Canada’s temporary foreign workers programs puts migrant employees in vulnerable positions.

Gino Morga, legal counsel for Presteve Foods, argued that Preibisch’s testimony was about “generalities” and had “no relevance whatsoever” on the specific case.

He noted that Preibisch has had no contact with the complainants and her testimony was based on academic research.

The hearing dates continue.

A legal challenge by a state representative from Detroit to stop construction of the $1-billion Detroit River DRIC bridge has been dismissed by a Michigan judge.

Rep. Fred Durhal (D — Detroit), who is a candidate for mayor in Detroit, filed a lawsuit in April which claimed Gov. Rick Snyder had no legal right to negotiate a deal with the Canadian government to build the Detroit River International Crossing without state government approvals.

Durhal’s lawsuit charged the governor’s actions committed the state to pay for the bridge and wanted the binational agreement declared void.

In this file photo, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announce plans for the new Windsor-Detroit bridge June 15, 2012. (Windsor Star / TYLER BROWNBRIDGE)

Snyder signed the bridge agreement in Windsor in June 2012, with Canada’s former transportation minister Denis Lebel.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who attended the signing, called the DRIC project “the single most important piece of infrastructure our government will complete while I am prime minister.”

The bridge agreement calls for Canada to pay the state’s share of the bridge project’s cost up to $550 million. Once feeder roads, plazas and property acquisitions are factored in, the project is anticipated to cost more than $2 billion. Canada’s share is to be recouped through tolls.

Durhal’s lawsuit was tossed out by Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Joyce Draganchuk, who said the state politician lacked sufficient standing to bring forward the lawsuit. He does not represent the district where either the DRIC bridge or the Ambassador Bridge is located.

Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun’s Proposal 6 initiative is designed to derail the DRIC project so he can keep his multimillion-dollar monopoly on international border traffic. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)

The district is represented by Rep. Rashida Tlaib( D — Detroit) who has been a strong supporter of the DRIC bridge effort and critic of Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun.

Durhal told the Detroit News he was surprised by the ruling and felt his role on the state’s House Appropriations Committee gave him standing since state tax dollars may be spent on the bridge.

“This was not a frivolous lawsuit,” Durhal said.

A spokesman for Snyder’s office applauded the ruling.

“The (DRIC bridge) is all about jobs for families on both sides of the border, so the judge’s decision is welcome news,” said Ken Silfven.

Durhal indicated he was consulting with his lawyer Godfrey Dillard whether to appeal the judge’s decision. Dillard represented Moroun in March 2012 in a Detroit court where the billionaire bridge owner faced contempt charges for failing to follow a judge’s orders to properly complete work on the U.S. bridge plaza.

According to campaign finance records in Michigan, Durhal has received $7,200 in campaign donations from members of the Moroun family since 2010.

Moroun has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington to stop the DRIC bridge.

He has also issued a $3.5-billion NAFTA challenge against the project claiming the Canadian government is seeking to steal away his toll revenues.

Construction on the new downriver crossing — to be located in the Brighton Beach industrial area — is slowly moving forward after a presidential permit from the Obama administration was granted in April,  Silfven said.

“Both parties are working together under the terms of the crossing agreement to prepare for the necessary steps that will pave the way for construction of the bridge,” he said. “There are a lot of analysis that needs to be done as we start moving into the next steps like applying for the U.S. Coast Guard permit or determining the actual ‘footprint’ of the bridge in terms of land acquisition.”

A Windsor woman who claimed to be a private investigator but who sometimes took money without providing significant results has been ordered to pay $17,500 as a result.

Shannon Turner had parted ways with her lawyer and did not show up in court for her two-day trial this week that ended with her conviction Tuesday in provincial offences court under the  Private Investigators and Security Guards Act.

Four counts were dismissed, but she was fined $5,000 on each of two other counts, and $2,000 on each of two others, plus court costs, for a total of $17,500.

The charges included operating without a licence and hiring unlicensed private investigators.

Turner could not be reached for comment. The number for her former company Investigating 4 U did not work.

Mike Livingstone, a licensed private investigator hired by two victims to look into Turner — who they say took their money in 2009 without providing service — applauded the conviction.

“It’s good,” said Livingstone, whose company Pi-Canada conducts investigations as well as trains private investigators. “It sends a clear message to people that they can’t impersonate private investigators. And it also sends a clear message that the courts are taking it seriously.”

Livingstone filed a complaint with the Ontario Provincial Police against Turner after being retained by two clients who say Turner ripped them off after claiming she was a legitimate private eye. One woman was afraid of what a boyfriend would do and wanted information. Another woman was looking for someone.

A victim who did not want to be identified noted that she is still out the money that was taken and that the fines Turner must pay will not cover any of the victims’ losses.

Livingstone said his clients paid a total of almost $50,000 to Turner but received little in return. He said his investigation quickly showed that neither Turner nor two investigators she hired were licensed private investigators. He said Turner also charged high fees for questionable practices.

Livingstone said heavy fines against unlicensed private investigators are rare. But he thinks the Turner conviction could signal a change.

“I believe this is a precedent-setting case, because of the size of the fine,” he said. “I think it will stick throughout the industry.”

A Detroit man, in Canada illegally working in the Leamington greenhouse industry, has been sentenced to 65 days in jail for sex crimes against an underaged female coworker, after the two agreed to a date at an area motel in June 2011.

Defence lawyer Laura Joy said she is under instructions to look into grounds for a possible appeal, after her client, Kirk  Powell, 32, was taken into custody following sentencing at Provincial Court Friday.

Justice Gregory Campbell found Powell guilty of sexual interference and inviting sexual touching in connection with the date he had with a 15-year-old Mennonite girl. A sexual assault charge was stayed. In addition to the jail term, he was placed on probation for two years and his name will be added to Canada’s sex offenders registry. Powell has been further ordered  to stay away from the victim, who cannot be named, and her family.

In passing sentence Campbell noted that Powell was never overly aggressive and was even polite and “showed a certain amount of decency” to the girl after the offence occurred. Nevertheless, he added, there were “aspects” of the case that were “disturbing.”

He noted the man was twice the age of the girl, the date took place in a motel room and Powell brought beer with him to share with her. In his finding of guilt Campbell stated those circumstances might normally indicate the offense was “predatory” in nature. However this case involved factors that made the behaviour easier to comprehend.

The two had met on the job, working full-time, which might have led him to conclude she was finished school, and therefore, older. In fact, the girl was being home schooled. The two had gotten together after a period of mutual flirting and both stated they were attracted to each other. The hotel meeting was decided upon because Powell is black and the girl is a white German Mennonite.

The judge noted evidence showed that such interracial relationships are frowned upon in the girl’s community and that, in their minds, likely precluded a date in a public place, for fear of discovery. Once at the motel Powell tried to touch her around the crotch area, put her hand on his penis through his jeans and tried to put his hands down the side of her pants. She pushed him away.

“She thought he was 20 years old,” said Prosecutor Jane Magri, in arguing for stiffer conditions, including having Powell barred from entering Canada. “He was twice her age and never mentioned it … this was planned, took place in a hotel room and alcohol was introduced.”

But Joy called the position “cruel” given the circumstances of  the case and questioned how her client could be banned from the country, considering he has a daughter who was born and lives here. Powell lives with his mother in Detroit.

Campbell acknowledged  the girl was under age and, under law, could not have consented. He said he was satisfied the Crown proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt and “there’s no question the acts occurred as indicated.”  He added that Powell should have had the life experience to understand his responsibilities and should have been more diligent in ascertaining the girl’s age.

Police were notified and a complaint filed after the girl spoke to her parents about the incident.

In her victim impact statement the girl said she believes her school age peers talk about her behind her back and, after friends she confided in spread the news, people at her church have begun treating her differently.

“Our defence is that (Powell) took all reasonable steps to determine her age and believed she was 16,” said Joy. “She was working and looked mature for her age so it’s not a stretch. A matter of  months and we wouldn’t be here.”

She acknowledged that the aggravating factor was that he brought alcohol to the room.

Joy said, if she appeals, she will also apply to have Powell released on bail, since the appeal process would likely take longer than the two thirds of the sentence he would likely serve.

The next step in having a career criminal who kidnapped and raped a 71-year-old woman declared a dangerous offender was set in motion Wednesday when a psychiatric report was submitted to the court.

The report on Scott McLaughlin, 45, was compiled by Toronto-based psychiatrist Derek Pallandi, who specializes in risk assessment and dangerous offender applications.

Pallandi compiled the report after reviewing 12,000 pages of documents related to McLaughlin’s 58 previous criminal convictions and other psychological reports.

McLaughlin is in custody after pleading guilty in early 2012 to sexually assaulting a 71-year-old woman taxi driver he forced to take him on a four-hour random drive through intense winter weather on roads in Essex County and Chatham-Kent in January 2009.

McLaughlin has spent much of his adult life in prison for offences in Windsor, Essex County and Alberta. Of all of his convictions, 10 are considered of a violent nature.

Assistant Crown Attorney Gary Nikota told Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance the process has taken so long — Pallandi appeared in court in Windsor last October — because of the sheer volume of material related to McLaughlin’s criminal record.

“Trying to digest 12,000 pages of material is quite an undertaking,” said Nikota.

Nikota said the formal application for a dangerous offender hearing, complete with Pallandi’s 24-page report, now proceeds to the local Crown Attorney Nat Bernardon, then to the regional Crown for Southwestern Ontario, and then to a committee on dangerous offender hearings at the Ministry of the Attorney General in Toronto, and then to Attorney General John Gerretsen for final approval.

Nikota said the process generally takes six to eight weeks and he is hoping to have a decision on whether a dangerous offender hearing will be granted by early September.

During his testimony, Pallandi said McLaughlin may show signs of being a psychopath who is also showing signs that his level of violence is escalating.

In relation to the kidnapping and rape, Pallandi said the crime had “sadistic overtones to it.”

McLaughlin’s lawyer John Liddle is planning to fight the dangerous offender designation and said his client is being held at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre in London where he and the other inmates are under lockdown 23 ½ hours a day because of labour issues.

A management conference between the parties in the case has been scheduled for Sept. 16.

Windsor Jail is among the most crowded jails in the province — and so short on staff that lockdowns and cancellation of visiting hours are daily occurrences.

“It’s a recipe for disaster,” said Dan Sidsworth, chair of the corrections division of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

“I would say the whole system is in crisis … and it’s felt more at Windsor Jail than at other facilities because it is so old.”

Windsor Jail in a Sept. 2005 file photo. (Scott Webster / The Windsor Star)

Correctional officers at Windsor Jail are represented by OPSEU Local 135. Sidsworth said that as recently as last weekend, lack of available personnel resulted in the facility being locked down and visitors being turned away.

“That’s happening every day — not just on the weekend,” Sidsworth said. “When they can’t staff all the posts in the facility, they’ll modify routines so they can properly supervise the inmates.”

Meanwhile, newly released statistics by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services rank Windsor Jail as the third most crowded in Ontario.

Throughout last year, the site was at 111 per cent capacity.

The figures show that the facility — meant to house 138 inmates — has been overcrowded for the past six years.

Almost half the jails in Ontario are in similar straits: On an average day last year, 14 of the province’s 29 jails had more inmates than they were designed for.

A registered historic building, Windsor Jail was constructed in 1925 and opened in 1926. “In this day and age, it just doesn’t meet everyone’s needs,” Sidsworth said.

Brent Ross, a spokesperson for the ministry, pointed out that the new South West Detention Centre in Maidstone is under construction and should be operational by early 2014.

Construction of the South West Detention Centre on Feb. 2013 file photo. (Tyler Brownbridge / The Windsor Star)

He said the ministry is the process of hiring 80 new correctional officers for Toronto, and “recruitment is also now underway for positions at other facilities across the province.”

“Staffing levels are based on the unique needs/circumstances of each institution,” Ross said. “The ministry is working to address its staffing requirements.”

But Sidsworth said the ministry froze hiring for years until this spring, and he doesn’t believe the projected hires will be enough to change the situation.

“That won’t even meet our needs through attrition. There are no new positions being created. They’re just trying to fill vacancies,” Sidsworth said.

“The province hasn’t increased our numbers in a long, long time. The institutions are running at staffing levels from the early 1980s.”

–with files by Will Campbell, Canadian Press

dchen@windsorstar.com

Another perspective of Windsor Jail, photographed Feb. 2012. (Tyler Brownbridge / The Windsor Star)

A local senior citizen must pay more than $150,000 in restitution after she defrauded the Canadian government for 14 years.

The 78-year-old woman was convicted earlier this month of collecting Old Age Security payments and Canada Pension Plan benefits on behalf of her husband — who died in the late 1990s.

“The issue is not the collection of her own benefits,” said Sgt. Peter Koersvelt of the RCMP’s Windsor detachment.

The woman’s crime was the subject of a two-year investigation by the RCMP.

Koersvelt wouldn’t release her name. “She’s an elderly lady and has some medical conditions. Out of respect for that, we’re not going to put her name out there to cause her anymore stress … We’re trying to show some compassion for this lady, regardless of the circumstances.”

But court documents obtained by The Star identify the woman as Eveline Rice — formerly Eveline Clark, wife of the late John H. Clark.

She’s now a Leamington resident.

Rice was initially charged with three counts of fraud over $5,000 and three counts of uttering forged documents.

As a result of a deal with the Crown, she pleaded guilty on July 16 to one count of fraud. The other five charges were withdrawn.

The total amount she now owes the Receiver General of Canada is $151,310.

Her sentence involves 12 months of probation, but no incarceration.

Koersvelt said the case was complicated by the fact that the woman’s husband died in the U.S., requiring RCMP to obtain documents outside of Canada.

Asked how the Canadian government could send money to a dead man for more than a decade without anyone noticing something was wrong, Koersvelt replied: “I can’t answer that question.”

“I would suggest … there’s complete culpability on (Rice’s) part.”

Thomas J. Sheeran And Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Associated Press

CLEVELAND — Admitted rapist and kidnapper Ariel Castro told a Cleveland court that he wasn’t trying to make excuses for his depraved actions but he’s “not a monster, I’m sick.”

“I’m not a violent person, I simply kept them there without allowing them to leave,” he told the court Thursday afternoon during his sentencing hearing.

“These people are trying to paint me as a monster,” he said. “I’m not a monster. I’m sick.”

He also claimed the women lived a happy life with him. “We had a lot of harmony that went on in that home,” he said.

Castro said he is addicted to pornography. He says he didn’t even plan the first kidnapping.

He says he knows what he did was wrong, but that he’s not a violent person and that his captives asked for sex and weren’t tortured.

“I just want to apologize to everyone who was touched by these events,” he said. But he also asked people to “do some research on people who have addictions.”

Michelle Knight stood just feet away from Ariel Castro in a Cleveland courtroom, the first time she’s been seen publicly since her rescue from the house where she was held captive.

“You took 11 years of my life away and I have got it back,” she told Castro. “I spent 11 years in hell. Now you’re hell is just beginning. I will overcome all this has happened, but you will face hell for eternity.”

Castro spoke during his sentencing hearing Thursday where a judge could order him to serve life in prison plus 1,000 years.

The judge was not buying Castro’s defence of his actions.

“You made a calculated decision to do wrong,” the judge said.

Ariel Castro, center, listens in the courtroom during the sentencing phase Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013, in Cleveland. Defense attorney’s Craig Weintraub, left, and Jaye Schlachet sit beside Castro. Three months after an Ohio woman kicked out part of a door to end nearly a decade of captivity, Castro, a onetime school bus driver faces sentencing for kidnapping three women and subjecting them to years of sexual and physical abuse. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

The 53-year-old Castro pleaded guilty last week to 937 counts including two charges of aggravated murder related to one act of forcing one of his victims to miscarry.

Prosecutors detailed Castro’s assaults and law enforcement witnesses described the jury-rigged prison he built in his ramshackle home. With the possibility of the death penalty for a forced miscarriage taken off the table, Castro stands to get life in prison plus 1,000 years.

Castro wrote “I’m a sexual predator,” in a letter, an FBI agent testified.

FBI agent Andrew Burke said Castro turned his house into a prison by creating a makeshift alarm system and chaining them inside bolted bedrooms.

Bedroom windows were boarded shut from the inside with heavy closet doors and doorknobs had been removed and replaced with multiple locks, he said. The house was divided in ways to make it more secure and to hide the existence of rooms, he said.

Prosecutors set-up a dollhouse-like replica of Castro’s house in the courtroom to show how he kept the women trapped for years, and isolated from each other.

Burke also testified that Castro would occasionally pay his victims after raping them. But he then would require them to pay him if they wanted something special from the store.

The letter written by Castro was found in his home and shown in court. It read “Confession and Details” at the top.

Castro, in leg chains and a orange prison jumpsuit, listened to the testimony expressionless.

Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Detective Dave Jacobs said he talked with Castro a few days after the women escaped and that Castro said, “I knew what I did was wrong.”

Early in the hearing, Castro tried to apologize to the victims, but after speaking with the judge said he would do that later in the proceeding.

A police officer who helped rescue the women said one was reluctant to come out of her room even when she saw the officers. They were scared even after they were taken out of the house and quickly began sharing details about the horrors they went through, saying that they had been starved and beaten.

“They were just shouting out a lot of things,” said Cleveland police officer Barb Johnson. She described the women as thin, pale and scared.

Responding to questions from prosecutors, Cleveland police detective Andrew Harasimchuk said that the women all described a pattern of being physically, sexually and emotionally assaulted for years. He said all three women were abducted after Castro offered them a ride and that each was chained in his basement and sexually assaulted within a few hours of being kidnapped.

Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said in a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday that Castro, who fed his captives only one meal a day, “admits his disgusting and inhuman conduct” but “remains remorseless for his actions.”

The memorandum described a diary kept by one of the women.

“The entries speak of forced sexual conduct, of being locked in a dark room, of anticipating the next session of abuse, of the dreams of someday escaping and being reunited with family, of being chained to a wall, of being held like a prisoner of war … of being treated like an animal,” it says.

Amanda Berry’s diary was addressed to her mother, the Daily Mail reported.

“After her mom died, she “wrote to her mother in heaven, seeking to soothe her mother” and praying for deliverance and the health of her daughter who Castro fathered,” the newspaper writes.

The memorandum says the three women continued to observe holidays and events from inside captivity, if though they were “removed from the outside world.”

The sentencing could take up to four hours, court officials said, with Castro, his attorneys, his victims and prosecution witnesses getting a chance to speak. The legal team representing the women’s interests declined to comment on whether they would testify or send statements to the court.

Prosecutors used a model of the house where Castro, 53, imprisoned the women to present their case. They also showed photos taken from inside the disheveled home.

The women quickly escaped after Amanda Berry kicked out the door panel on May 6 and Castro was arrested within hours. The women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old.

Some horrific details of the women’s ordeal had already emerged, including tales of being chained to poles in the basement or a bedroom heater or inside a van, with one woman forced to wear a motorcycle helmet while chained in the basement and, after she tried to escape, having a vacuum cord wrapped around her neck.

Castro repeatedly starved and beat one of the victims each time she was pregnant, forcing her to miscarry five times.

He forced the same woman on threat of death to safely deliver the child he fathered with another victim on Christmas Day 2006. The same day, prosecutors say, Castro raped the woman who helped deliver his daughter.

As part of his plea deal, Castro was to receive a sentence of life with no chance of parole for aggravated murder in the forced miscarriage. He would then receive 1,000 years for the kidnapping, rape, assault and other charges.

Berry, 27, made a surprise onstage appearance at a rap concert last weekend, and a second victim, Gina DeJesus, 23, has made a few televised comments. Knight, 32, appeared with Berry and DeJesus in a video in early July thanking the community for its support.

Knight, the first of three to disappear, also sent police a handwritten letter thanking them for their help collecting cards and gifts for the women. In the note, Knight told Second District Cmdr. Keith Sulzer, “Life is tough, but I’m tougher!”

There’s more to the story of a Windsor police officer striking a man in a stairwell than what’s shown on one video, according to the officer’s lawyer.

Const. Kent Rice of Windsor police attends court on Aug. 6, 2013. (Tyler Brownbridge / The Windsor Star)

The trial of Const. Kent Rice, 41, began on Tuesday.

He’s facing one count of assault for a Feb. 22, 2012 incident that was captured on a surveillance camera in a low-income housing building.

The video shows Rice — a 12-year veteran officer — delivering one punch and two kicks to a young black man lying on the floor of a stairwell.

But defence lawyer Andrew Bradie suggested to the court on Tuesday that the video doesn’t show other events surrounding the incident — such as the man being at the centre of a disturbance in one of the building’s apartments; a tussle involving a smashed beer bottle; and dialogue between Rice and the man.

Bradie pointed out that a statement by the building’s manager indicates police were called to the address — 1101 McDougall Ave. — because of “a fight and a loud voice” coming from Unit 104.

On the stand Tuesday, the alleged victim — 22-year-old Gladson Chinyangwa — admitted that he’d been drinking beer and smoking pot with people in the apartment on the night in question, and he “wasn’t getting along” with the unit’s female tenant or his friends.

“We made a lot of noise,” Chinyangwa testified. “I don’t really remember what happened … I didn’t want to be there.”

Chinyangwa said he went to the building’s game room by himself to calm down, but he was physically dragged back to the apartment by two of his friends, and he dropped a beer bottle in the commotion.

Chinyangwa is currently in custody on a charge of breaching house arrest. The court heard that he’s a high school drop-out and has a criminal record with multiple convictions as an adult.

Images from a Feb. 22, 2012 surveillance video that allegedly shows Const. Kent Rice punching and kicking Gladson Chinyangwa. (The Windsor Star)

The building is the property of Windsor Residence Inc., a non-profit geared-to-income housing organization.

The court heard that the building has no paid security service, but there is a continual police presence due to what Bradie described as “ongoing issues.”

Peter Coupe, who was managing the building at the time of the incident, testified that he copied the stairwell video onto a DVD at the request of the organization’s leadership.

He said another security camera set up in a hallway showed the alleged victim being escorted by an officer into the stairwell.

The stairwell video begins with Chinyangwa already lying on the floor when Rice enters the alcove.

Coupe said the building’s security cameras only activate when they detect movement, so there’s a momentary delay before recording begins. He also said the cameras stop recording if they don’t detect movement in 30 seconds.

Asked if he reviewed or made copies of any other recordings from the night in question, Coupe said no — he wasn’t instructed to.

He said the security system’s hard drive constantly overwrites itself, and the memory holds about three or four months of recordings.

Coupe said the female tenant of Unit 104 — Kyla Neil — was evicted from the apartment the day after the incident.

He said Neil “broke many” of the rules of the residence, but he wasn’t sure which ones specifically led to the eviction.

Coupe testified that the alleged victim — Chinyangwa — returned to the building later that day, and was asked if he wanted to pursue charges against the officer.

According to Coupe, the man declined.

Bradie suggested that Chinyangwa returned to the building to apologize for his behaviour. Coupe said it’s possible, but he can’t recall for certain.

The video came to light months after the incident. Coupe said the DVD copy he made was reviewed by the board of Windsor Residence Inc., and a board member subsequently sent the video to local media and City Hall.

The trial continues Wednesday.

dchen@windsorstar.com

A Windsor man was sentenced Tuesday to 3½ years in prison for a multi-drug trafficking conspiracy, though the judge took into consideration that the accused has since found religion and taken addictions counselling.

Michael Allen Broughton, 32, has already been in prison for 19 months and therefore faces up to 23 more months’ incarceration. He was also sentenced to two years probation, during which time he cannot associate with any of his co-accused, and was handed a lifetime firearms ban.

Though he originally faced nine counts, he pleaded guilty to and was convicted of: conspiracy to traffic cocaine, possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, possession of psilocybin mushrooms for the purpose of trafficking, breach of probation, and trafficking in cocaine.

As part of a 4 1/2-month wiretap investigation, police conducted raids at several addresses and on Jan. 9, 2012, seized 7.6 kilograms of pot and 397 grams of magic mushrooms from Broughton’s apartment in the 3400 block of Peter Street. Police also found more than three kilos of coke at another address to which Broughton — who has a police record — was connected.

“You’re certainly not a first offender,” Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas told Broughton in court.

“That’s what’s scaring me to death,” Broughton said from the prisoner’s box.

Nevertheless, Thomas said he considered the fact that Broughton has converted to Islam and attended addictions counselling while in prison.

“You’ve told me you’re committed to turning your life around,” Thomas said, before handing the man 3 1/2 years, at the top end of what the defence asked for but less than the six years the Crown suggested.

Broughton, wearing a grey T-shirt, glasses and a thick beard, hugged a male family member before being escorted back to jail.

“It was his addictions that led him down that path,” defence lawyer Lana Strain said outside court. “But he has been in court for 19 months and he indicated that this is the only time he can remember being sober in a long time.”

Strain said Broughton is now in a better place.

“It has been about a year since he converted to Islam,” Strain said. “Now he considers himself Muslim and he’s happy with his choice and he has support of a community that he didn’t have before, so it has helped him.”

Federal prosecutor Christine Malott said the court has taken the case seriously.

“He received a significant period of custody,” Malott said. “But he was not the boss here. He was not the mastermind. He was taking orders.

“He was not in charge of the operation and the judge has to take that into consideration.”

Broughton’s girlfriend Yvette Lucier has already pleaded guilty to her role in the operation and was sentenced in June to house arrest. Gerald Keith Lauzon, who also pleaded guilty, was sentenced in June to 6 1/2 years.

Seven co-accused have already pleaded guilty, though the alleged mastermind, Shawn Evon, is expected to go to trial.

Others charged include Darlene Sandra Evon, William Lestem Evon, Raymond John Caza, Milad Haider, Jor-dann Lafreniere, Danielle Patrick and Jason Andrew Potter.

The man who was allegedly assaulted by a Windsor police officer on camera says his only resistance was to repeatedly ask why — and to ask if his race was a factor.

“I asked (the officer) why he was picking on me,” said 22-year-old Gladson Chinyangwa, who’s black, in court on Wednesday.

“I also recall asking him if it had anything to do with my colour.”

Chinyangwa’s testimony filled the second day of the trial of Const. Kent Rice.

Const. Kent Rice of Windsor police attends court on Aug. 6, 2013. (Tyler Brownbridge / The Windsor Star)

Rice — a 41-year-old Windsor police officer — is facing one count of assault for a Feb. 22, 2012 incident that was recorded by a surveillance camera in the stairwell of a low-income housing building.

The video shows the officer delivering a hand strike to Chinyangwa’s head and booting him twice — with one of the kicks landing in the downed man’s ribs.

“It hurt. It was pretty hard … I remember I took some time to catch my breath,” Chinyangwa told the court on Wednesday. “He was telling me to shut up and telling me to get up.”

According to Chinyangwa, what’s missing from the video is Rice’s first blow.

An image from the video that allegedly shows Const. Kent Rice assaulting Gladson Chinyangwa. (The Windsor Star)

Chinyangwa said he was entering the stairwell, as ordered by Rice, when he felt “a shove, like a hit from the back” that sent him sprawling — and that’s why the video begins with him on the floor.

“I didn’t want to fight,” said Chinyangwa — who estimates his height at 5’6″ and his weight at 165 pounds.

Chinyangwa said the officer repeatedly demanded to know the real name of one of Chinyangwa’s friends, who was also being interviewed by police at the time.

“I told him I didn’t know his name,” Chinyangwa said.

But defence lawyer Andrew Bradie painted a different picture of the night in question.

In cross-examination, Bradie suggested Chinyangwa went along with his friend giving officers a false name.

Windsor defence lawyer Andrew Bradie in a 2008 file photo. (Jason Kryk / The Windsor Star)

“You backed up his lie,” Bradie told Chinyangwa in court. “You knew he was lying to police.”

Bradie further suggested Chinyangwa urged his friends not to tell police any of their real names or provide any information.

“You were a hothead in there and you were interfering with police officers doing their duty,” Bradie said.

Bradie noted that Chinyangwa was “primarily responsible” for police attending the building in the first place — and suggested that Chinyangwa had tried to hurt one of his friends by throwing a beer bottle in a drunken rage.

Bradie pointed out inconsistencies in Chinyangwa’s testimony, as well as conflicts with earlier statements he and other witnesses gave police.

Bradie also detailed Chinyangwa’s extensive criminal history — a long list of convictions including drunk driving, theft, assault, robbery, and many violations of his release conditions.

The most recent charges — which are still to be resolved in court — allege that Chinyangwa broke into two addresses while armed with a butcher knife.

The court heard that alcohol was a factor in much of Chinyangwa’s prior bad behaviour. Two of the thefts were from liquor stores.

“You’re a different person when you’re drinking,” Bradie told Chinyangwa. “You obviously have a problem with alcohol.”

“Yes, I do,” Chinyangwa admitted.

Chinyangwa further admitted that there are details about his past crimes he doesn’t recall because he was “blackout” drunk at the time.

“Are there parts of Feb. 22 that you don’t remember because of a blackout?” Bradie asked.

“No,” Chinyangwa replied.

dchen@windsorstar.com

The man who was allegedly assaulted by a Windsor police officer in a stairwell was readying a mouthful of spit and refusing to be arrested, argues the officer’s lawyer.

A 2010 Facebook image of Gladson Chinyangwa.

“I’m suggesting to you, you don’t have respect for police,” defence lawyer Andrew Bradie told 22-year-old Gladson Chinyangwa.

“I will suggest you were preparing to spit at (the officer).”

But Chinyangwa denied the suggestion “100 per cent.”

“Why would I do that? How can I fight a man as big as him, compared to me?” said Chinyangwa while gesturing at Const. Kent Rice.

The courtroom discussion happened on Thursday — the third day of Rice’s trial. The 41-year-old Windsor police officer is facing one count of assault for a Feb. 22, 2012 incident captured on surveillance video.

In cross-examination of Chinyangwa, Bradie suggested that the alleged victim ended up on the floor of the stairwell because he was “digging (his) heels in” at the doorway when Rice told him to enter.

Bradie further suggested that Rice used an “open hand palm strike” on the downed Chinyangwa because he saw Chinyangwa was about to spit at him.

According to Bradie, the two kicks that Rice delivered were because Chinyangwa refused to stand and be handcuffed.

“It’s pretty clear … that you were struck because you weren’t complying with (Rice’s) demand that you submit to arrest,” Bradie said.

Const. Kent Rice of Windsor police on Aug. 6, 2013. (Tyler Brownbridge / The Windsor Star)

Chinyangwa said Rice used a closed fist to punch him in the face. But he agreed that Rice repeatedly told him to get up, and that he did not immediately rise or put his hands behind his back as ordered.

“(The officer) never once told me why I was being arrested,” Chinyangwa said. “I also felt like it was unfair … I never said ‘No’ … All I asked was for the reason why. That’s all I wanted to know.”

But Bradie said Rice told Chinyangwa that he was being arrested for breach of the peace. Bradie noted that Rice later released Chinyangwa outside the building — at which point Chinyangwa turned and thanked the officer.

“I was just relieved that I wasn’t going back to jail,” Chinyangwa said on Thursday.

According to Chinyangwa, the reason he didn’t file a formal complaint against Rice at the time was because he was scared. “I was afraid that every time I see police, they’re going to treat me the same,” Chinyangwa told the court.

When the surveillance video became public in June 2012, Chinyangwa provided a statement to police. He said in court it bothered him that viewers assumed he’d been sleeping on the stairwell floor “like a bum.”

Windsor defence lawyer Andrew Bradie in a 2011 file photo. (Dan Janisse / The Windsor Star)

Bradie asked: “I take it you somehow got the idea there might be some money involved in this?”

Chinyangwa said no. “I never once thought I was going to get money out of this.”

But Bradie pointed out a Facebook post by Chinyangwa from June 2012 in which the alleged victim bragged to friends about the case, boasting he was “about to get pay n blow up like the world trade.”

Asked if he is currently suing Windsor police, Chinyangwa said no.

In other testimony on Thursday, two Windsor police officers who also attended the initial scene — a small apartment in a low-income housing building at 1101 McDougall Ave. — both said that Chinyangwa was not cooperative.

Const. Michael Rettig said Chinyangwa was “speaking loudly” and interrupting as officers tried to get information from other people at the scene.

Gladson Chinyangwa in a 2010 Facebook image.

Const. Sean Martin said Chinyangwa was disruptive and boisterous, yelling such things as “F**k the police” and accusing the officers of being racist.

“He was derogatory? Insulting? Verbally abusive?” Bradie asked.

Martin agreed with the characterizations. “It appeared he was trying to get everyone riled up so that they wouldn’t cooperate with us.”

Rice is expected to take the stand when the trial continues on Friday.

dchen@windsorstar.com

The partner of the Windsor police officer accused of on-camera assault gave testimony that was exaggerated to help his colleague, argues the Crown prosecutor in the case.

“I’m going to suggest to you that in your evidence this morning, you have overstated or made more melodramatic what actually happened,” assistant Crown attorney David Foulds told Const. Anthony Nosella in court on Friday.

Const. Kent Rice of Windsor police in a 2012 file photo. (Dax Melmer / The Windsor Star)

Nosella is the partner of Const. Kent Rice, who’s on trial for a Feb. 22, 2012 incident in the stairwell of a low-income housing building.

A surveillance camera recorded Rice striking 22-year-old Gladson Chinyangwa as the arrest subject lay on the stairwell floor.

Earlier this week, the court heard that Rice ordered Chinyangwa into the stairwell after removing him from a gathering in a small apartment.

Foulds’ criticism came after Nosella described the behaviour of Chinyangwa and his friends on the night in question.

According to Nosella, Chinyangwa was “belligerent,” “vulgar,” and “amped up” — and also the most intoxicated person at the scene.

Nosella said Chinyangwa’s friend Steven Cocks-Case — who gave police a fake name — was being “difficult” and obviously lying.

Crown prosecutor David Foulds in a Feb. 2013 file photo. (Nick Brancaccio / The Windsor Star)

But Foulds suggested Nosella was “speaking about these people in a way to help your partner.”

Foulds pointed out that Nosella made no mention of intoxication in his hand-written notes or his computer report on the original call.

Although Nosella testified that he detected a “very pungent” odor of marijuana at the scene, attending officers did not lay any drug-related charges — nor did they even search for drugs.

Police initially went to the apartment due to a complaint about a fight on the premises. But no charges were laid regarding that disturbance.

“So this call or complaint you were on morphed into an investigation of the five people in that apartment,” Foulds said.

Nosella adamantly denied that his testimony was embellished.

“Not in the least. I’ve been full, frank, and fair, sir,” Nosella said to Foulds.

Gladson Chinyangwa in a 2010 Facebook image.

According to Nosella, Rice took Chinyangwa by the arm and removed him from the apartment because Chinyangwa’s “loud” and “angry” demeanor was making the investigation “impossible.”

Nosella said that when Chinyangwa entered the hallway, he was “dragging his feet” and “wasn’t making it easy” on Rice.

Nosella and other officers remained in the apartment to deal with the people there.

Nosella said that when he saw Rice and Chinyangwa together a short time later in the building’s vestibule, Chinyangwa was in cuffs and his demeanor had changed.

“He was saying ‘I’m sorry. I acted like an ***hole … Please don’t take me to jail,’” Nosella testified.

Nosella said Chinyangwa at that point told officers the identity of his friend, Steven Cocks-Case — contradicting Chinyangwa’s testimony on Tuesday that he didn’t know his friend’s full name.

Cocks-Case was promptly arrested for violating his curfew conditions. Chinyangwa was released in the parking lot.

Const. Kent Rice arresting Gladson Chinyangwa on Feb. 22, 2012.

Foulds noted that after the surveillance video came to light, Nosella reviewed Rice’s report on the incident before he provided statements to investigators.

“Don’t you regard that as improper?” Foulds asked.

Foulds suggested that reading another person’s account of what happened could have affected Nosella’s recollection.

But Nosella — a former drug unit officer — said he’s often read other officers’ reports prior to giving testimony on cases.

Friday marked the fourth day of the trial.

Rice was originally expected to take the stand on Friday, but his testimony was postponed until a future date due to time constraints.

The next trial date will be decided on Monday morning.

Related articles

• Alleged assault victim was about to spit at officer, argues officer’s lawyer
• Alleged victim of police assault claims he was cooperating
• Trial begins on Windsor cop’s stairwell incident

dchen@windsorstar.com

Tecumseh-based horse trainer Derek Riesberry was found not guilty of fraud and cheating at play by Ontario Superior Court Justice Steve Rogin Thursday in the first criminal trial in Canada for alleged horse doping.

Riesberry was facing two counts of fraud and two counts of cheating at play. Two other charges of contravening pari-mutuel regulations that were laid when Riesberry was arrested Nov. 7, 2010 had previously been withdrawn.

“Obviously, he is relieved,” said Riesberry’s defence lawyer Andrew Bradie. ‘It’s been a burden for three, long years for him.”

A beaming Riesberry looked a man with the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders in quickly leaving the courthouse without commenting  after a brief post-decision meeting with Bradie.

The trial was precedent setting as it was a break from the usual path taken in the sport where alleged breaches have traditionally been dealt with as licence infractions at regulatory tribunals.

Riesberry had been arrested nearly three years ago after entering Windsor Raceway with syringes filled with Epinephrine, Clenbuterol and Clotol.

Clenbuterol is considered a performance-enhancing drug that is banned from use within 72 hours of a race. Epinephrine is also banned and is used only as a life-saving measuring when a horse is having a severe allergic reaction.

Clotol isn’t a banned drug and is used to calm a skittish horse.

Riesberry was one of three people originally arrested after an Ontario Provincial Police investigation.

Fellow trainer Chris Haskell and his girlfriend Cassie Nantais were also charged. Nantais has since had all charges against her dropped while Haskell goes to trial in November.

Bradie also represents Haskell and preferred not to offer any thoughts on how Thursday’s decision might affect that case.

“Obviously, this was a difficult case for the crown to prove,” Bradie said.

“The judge found the charges against my client faced were not criminal. He dismissed the charges on that basis.

“We’re pleased with the result.”

That argument  was the foundation of Riesberry’s defence.

Bradie acknowledged his client had broken Ontario Racing Commission regulations by having fully-loaded syringes at the racetrack. Only veterinarians are allowed to bring syringes to tracks.

The difficulty of  the prosecution’s assignment was outlined in Justice Rogin’s verbal explanation of his decision. Rogin took 30 minutes to explain the summary of his findings.

Though he accepted the prosecution’s claim that Riesberry attempted to gain advantage by injecting a horse Sept. 28, 2010 with performance-enhancing drugs and intended to do so again Nov. 7, 2010 when he arrived at Windsor Raceway with two fully-loaded syringes and a horse in tow, Rogin couldn’t find that the public was either cheated or defrauded by the action.

Drawing on numerous precedents on either side of the border, Rogin essentially ruled bettors are observers not participants in horse races. Therefore Riesberry’s action didn’t fit the strict definition of  the charges under Canadian Criminal Code.

Further, he said the race was not a game as defined by Section 197 of the criminal code and therefore Riesberry ‘can’t be convicted in that regard.’

“If anyone was at risk of deception it was the other participants in the race,” Rogin said. “I can’t find the connection between Riesberry’s deception and the public’s deception.”

Assistant Crown Attorney Brian Manarin offered only a ‘no comment’ on the historic case’s outcome.

Bradie said it was unlikely Riesberry, who has been suspended by the ORC for the past three years, would attempt to re-enter the horse-racing industry.

“He’d still have to get his licence back from the ORC and that seems unlikely,” Bradie said.

Calls to the Ontario Racing Commission and the Ontario Harness Horse Association seeking comment on the case’s outcome weren’t returned.

Homeowners who filed a civil lawsuit accusing the Ambassador Bridge company of turning a west end neighbourhood into a “slum” are seeking $10 million in punitive damages — described as the largest amount in Canadian history.

The lawsuit says the bridge is treating residents in the west-end’s Indian Road corridor “as collateral damage” in its pursuit of a twin span.

The lawsuit, filed in Ontario Superior Court by Windsor lawyer Harvey Strosberg, points to 112 properties purchased in Olde Sandwich Towne over the past decade by billionaire bridge owner Matty Moroun’s company.

The bridge abandoned, boarded up and left the properties to rot, and residents “now feel they are living near, and in some cases, across from what basically amounts to a slum,” according to a statement of claim.

The lawsuit seeks $5 million apiece on behalf of two clients — five members of the DeSando family, who own two homes in the 600 block of Rosedale Avenue, and 91-year-old Stephen Chaborek, who built his house in the 600 block of Indian Road in the mid-1950s and still lives there.

The lawsuit estimates his home value has declined by about $100,000 in the past decade.

Canadian Navy veteran Steve Chaborek on the front porch of his well-maintained property on Indian Road. Chaborek has lived in the home for over 50 years. Photo taken Monday August 19, 20-13. (NICK BRANCACCIO/The Windsor Star)

Home of Canadian Navy veteran Steve Chaborek, the well-maintained property on Indian Road where Chaborek has lived for over 50 years. Photo taken Monday August 19, 20-13. (NICK BRANCACCIO/The Windsor Star)

“It’s like hell,” said Chaborek. “The people that have these homes have made a ghetto out of it. That’s what we have to put up with. This company is so big you can’t fight them — and I don’t think they even care.”

Since the late 1990s, bridge officials have made no secret of their intention to demolish homes on tree-lined Indian Road, Rosedale Avenue and Edison Street to expand bridge operations and build a twin span.

But that plan has been repeatedly rejected by government decision-makers on both sides of the border, who are pushing forward with construction two kilometres downriver of the $1-billion Detroit River International Crossing.

Strosberg says the onus is on Moroun’s company to fix the homes it owns on Indian and Rosedale. Instead, the company ignores their upkeep in violation of the city’s building code and property standards bylaw, he said.

“Every man, woman — even dog — has to comply with the minimum standards bylaw,” Strosberg said Monday. “Every day they don’t do that it’s a continual nuisance. You can’t just brick up the windows and the entry to the house, get rid of the gutters. You have to maintain the property.”

The bridge company should have kept the homes occupied and in good condition until there were government decisions in place to allow their operations to expand or the twin span to be built, the lawyer said.

“We allege the (bridge company) destroyed a community,” Strosberg said. “They have perpetuated a slum for their own selfish, economic interests.”

The punitive damages equate to about $50,000 on average that should be spent to restore each of the 112 bridge-owned properties, Strosberg said.

The damages sought are also high since the Ambassador Bridge — North America’s busiest border crossing — is worth more than $1 billion, with annual revenues estimated in the lawsuit at more than $200 million.

The lawsuit cites bridge company court filings against the city which refer to Olde Sandwich Towne as once being a “lovely residential area.”  That changed around 2004 when the bridge company, after accumulating dozens of homes in the community, started “committing nuisances,” according to the lawsuit.

Prior to the appearance of boarded-up homes, the neighbourhood was filled with an “eclectic mix of students and professionals, many employed by the university,” the lawsuit said. There were many long-time residents who took pride in their properties and kept them maintained.

Today, the abandoned and boarded-up homes have “severely impacted the quality of life” by seeing the neighbourhood become unsafe, providing a haven for squatters, vandals and transients, subjecting the residents to eyesores, threatening health through growth in vermin and posing fire hazards.

The bridge company’s conduct in the destruction of the Sandwich Towne is described in the lawsuit as “high-handed, outrageous, wanton, reckless, deliberate, disgraceful and wilful” while motivated by “avarice and greed.”

Strosberg said the punitive damages being sought are the largest in Canadian history.

The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court.

The bridge company has 20 days to file a statement of defence.

Bridge company president Dan Stamper did not return a message left by The Star on Monday.

Boarded-up homes in the Indian Road area are pictured in Windsor, Ont. on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. (TYLER BROWNBRIDGE / The Windsor Star)

The DeSando family, based in Sault Ste. Marie, bought a home at 625 Rosedale Ave. in 1994 for $132,000 with the intention that it be used by the family’s children while they attended the University of Windsor or  to provide income as a rental property.

The family’s plan has been to one day see the parents, Giuseppe and Immacolata, move to WIndsor near their children and retire to live in the home. A second home was purchased by the family’s three sons in 2002 at 670 Rosedale for $117,000.

Until 2009, all three sons took turns living at length at the Rosedale homes.

“It’s an absolute shame what has happened,” said Ralph DeSando, one of the plaintiffs. “I can’t in good conscience have my parents in their 70s live in that neighbourhood. I can’t sell it. Who is going to buy it?

“My frustration reached a boiling point. Nothing is getting better. The legal route is my only recourse. At a minimum, they should have kept these houses maintained. There is no reason why they haven’t kept this a nice neighbourhood. Rosedale was a beautiful street.”

All of the bridge-owned properties fall within either the Sandwich Heritage Conservation district or under the Sandwich Community Improvement area created in recent years, said John Calhoun, the city’s heritage planner.

He believes many of the homes can still be saved and has hopes the neighbourhood can be restored.

Boarded-up homes in the Indian Road area are pictured in West Windsor, Ont. on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. (TYLER BROWNBRIDGE / The Windsor Star)

“It’s one of the best collections of early 1920s housing with good stock reflective of that time,” said Calhoun of Indian and Rosedale. “My hope is they can be put back into use. I’ve restored houses of that age and they can be worked on with good success without spending huge amounts of money.

“The community would benefit and you could fill in the lots with new homes for the ones that need replacing. Hopefully the community can be returned to the place it once was and become a contributing part to the city of Windsor.”

The impact of seeing several residential streets boarded up and left to crumble by Moroun has been “devastating,” said bake shop owner Mary Ann Cuderman, chairwoman of the Sandwich Business Improvement Association and bridge company watchdog.

“It’s a blight,” she said. “It’s been ridiculous that all these homes have been lost. I still believe many of them can be rebuilt.”

Restoration of the streets into a viable residential area is essential for the future of the Sandwich community and the west end, Cuderman said.

“Look at all the families lost in that area,” she said. “The economic and social impacts have been great and it’s all because of (Moroun), nobody else. It’s about time somebody stood up to him on this. I love it. Kudos to these people.”

A Windsor woman who was accused of plotting to murder her husband is now free.

Mary Agpaoa, 28, was released from custody Tuesday after pleading guilty to assault with a weapon.

All other charges against Agpaoa — including two counts of attempted murder — were withdrawn by the Crown.

But Justice Gregory Campbell told Agpaoa there are details of the case that he still finds “most troubling.”

“There is no doubt in my mind that at some point last year, there was a degree of evilness within you,” Campbell told the woman.

Agpaoa’s plea of guilt on the lesser charge was the result of a joint submission by her lawyer, Laura Joy, and the assistant Crown attorney, Jane Magri.

Campbell sentenced Agpaoa to two years in jail. However, because she’d been in custody since her arrest 16 months ago, and with two-for-one credit for time served, Tuesday was Agpaoa’s last day in jail.

“This is the right result,” Joy said outside the courtroom. “I think a lot was said (between the couple) out of emotion, anger, and frustration. (My client) is a very good person. This was completely out of character.”

The court heard that the relationship between Agpaoa and her husband Bienvenido had deteriorated since they came to Canada from the Philippines in 2007.

Agpaoa’s husband — who is 24 years her senior — suspected that she was cheating on him.

On March 11, 2012, Bienvenido awakened with neck pain and saw Mary standing over him with a steering wheel lock (commercially known as The Club) in her hands. He realized that she had attacked him with the device.

Agpaoa then broke down in a hysterical tantrum. The couple reconciled and went back to bed.

About two weeks later, Agpaoa moved out of their residence.

The court heard that Agpaoa’s employers then went to Windsor police with print-outs of text messages from her work-issued BlackBerry from earlier in 2012.

The print-outs showed Agpaoa had text conversations with her then-boyfriend about ways to kill her husband.

Agpaoa texted about poisoning her husband with carbon monoxide or smothering him with a pillow, and making it look like an accident.

She asked about procuring the “date rape” drug GHB, which she believed she could use to incapacitate Bienvenido and then stage his death as a suicide.

But Joy dismissed the text messages as “fantasy” and “speculation.”

“There was no intention for her to actually carry anything out,” Joy insisted in court.

Joy pointed out that her client has no criminal history. “I don’t believe the courts will ever see her again.”

Joy noted that Agpaoa’s husband did not report the Club incident to police until weeks after it happened, and he suffered no injury as a result of the attack. Joy suggested Bienvenido went to police only because he was angry about charges on a credit card he shared with Mary.

One of Agapoa’s court-ordered conditions is that she cannot associate with her husband for the next 10 years.

But Joy said Bienvenido is the one who still wants to reconcile — Mary considers the relationship over. “It’s not going to be her going to him,” Joy said.

Joy said her client — who is a personal support worker — has been finding solace in Bible study and plans on enrolling in counseling.

“She’s emotional, she’s relieved, she’s ready to get on with her life,” Joy said. “She’s very remorseful.”

Joy added that had the Crown pursued the attempted murder charges, she would have challenged the admissibility of the text messages as evidence — citing the requirements of search and seizure, and the expectation of privacy.

dchen@windsorstar.com

Chloé Fedio, Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — A 23-year-old Montreal man was convicted this week of luring a teenage girl from her home in Windsor and forcing her to sell her body to more than 100 men during the summer of 2011 in a handful of Canadian cities.

Jamie Byron used threats, intimidation and violence to “force her to conform to his wishes,” Justice Bonnie Warkentin ruled Wednesday. He “managed and controlled” the girl and “forced her to turn over the money,” she said.

Byron was found guilty of nine charges, including human trafficking, assault and living off the avails of a prostitute under the age of 18. The Windsor victim, who was 17 at the time, was described during the trial as “vulnerable” and from the “wrong side of the tracks.” She was a ward of the Children’s Aid Society because her parents had died.

She first came in contact with Byron on Facebook, where they were introduced by a mutual acquaintance, the prosecutor in the case, Julien Lalande, said Thursday. “He essentially recruited her and forced her into prostitution and used a lot of violence.”

Byron cultivated a fake romance and communicated with the 17-year-old girl via text message when he sent money to her in Windsor to buy a train ticket. Lalande said the girl travelled by train to Toronto and was picked up on Bay Street by a man who then drove her to Byron in Montreal.

The girl testified that she was put to work immediately. Over the course of two months, she was forced to sell her body in hotel rooms in Montreal, Toronto, Barrie and Ottawa. The court heard that Byron described the girl, who has a learning disability, as his “meal ticket.”

An Ottawa detective posing as a john rescued her from a downtown hotel room. The girl told police she was a “change whore” because Byron took all her bills.

In a taped interview with police, the girl said some days she serviced as many as 10 “johns,” starting as early as 6 a.m. She had one day off a week, which she used to catch up on her sleep. The most she earned in a day was $1,000, she said, but she had nothing to show for it, except for a half pack of cigarettes.

“If I didn’t give him the money, I would get a beat up,” she told a detective. She said he pushed her around, pulled her hair and head-butted her face.

She also said Byron burned her birth certificate and stole her health card to control her.

“He’s not a human being. He’s an animal,” she told police.

Byron testified during the trial that he was in “somewhat of a relationship” with the girl but denied he ever took her money.

A Facebook message from the girl to Byron told a much different story.

“You’re only around when there’s money,” she wrote.

Byron admitted under cross-examination by Lalande that he lied at least 25 times during his initial police interview.

Detectives traced cellphones, acquired hotel records and copied online prostitution ads to build their case.

When confronted in court with screen shots of the scantily clad girl in prostitution ads, Byron admitted his phone number was listed as the contact number. He also admitted he made daily cash payments to rent hotel rooms for the girl.

Court heard that the girl twice tried to escape from Byron but failed.

She told police she knew nothing about the sex trade and was forced to perform sex acts with strange men, day and night.

The prosecutor, Lalande, said Thursday he couldn’t talk about what has since happened to the victim, now 19, because of a court-ordered publication ban on any information that might identify her.

A spokesman for the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society couldn’t be reached on Thursday to answer whether the girl had been a ward of the society and if so, whether the society noticed and reported her missing in the summer of 2011.

In Ottawa, a presentence report was ordered before sentencing Byron. The charge of human trafficking under 18 with the use of violence comes with a mandatory five-year minimum in prison.

Byron is facing an outstanding robbery charge in Montreal.

– With files from Brian Cross