Slocan mayor's husband pleads guilty in Rossland court
By Nelson Daily Staff
After pleading guilty in Rossland Provincial Court last week to possession and production of marijuana, nine months of house arrest is the conditional sentence that awaits the husband of Slocan’s mayor.
Georges Perriere, 59, was in court Dec. 21, although his case had been adjourned in November at Nelson Provincial Court until Jan. 11.
Perriere and the two men from the Winlaw and Slocan area were arrested Aug. 23 after they were found tending to a large outdoor marihuana grow operation on a parcel of Crown land near McKean Road in Winlaw, located 50 kilometres northwest of Nelson.
The operation was composed of three individual sub-sites, said Const. Shaun Foley of the Kootenary Boundary Regional Detachment in Slocan, with a combined total of 657 marijuana plants.
While on scene, police seized a vehicle belonging to one of the suspects and also $15,000 in cash that was divided into nine bundles from the same vehicle. Perriere forfeited the $15,000 in cash seized as proceeds of crime.
The three suspects were released on the same day on promise to appear documents.
At the time, the mayor of Slocan City — Madeleine Perriere — denied knowledge of the marijuana grow operation at a September village council meeting. She issued the statement at the Sept. 13 village council meeting, saying she did not know about her family’s involvement in the drug trade prior to their arrests.
Slocan is a village of 357 people 75 kilometres north of Nelson.
The other two suspects in the arrest made Aug. 23 in Winlaw were not charged.
A conditional sentence requires Perriere to be at home every day for the duration of his sentence, unless a leave is approved by court.
