Apex man fined $7,500 for bootlegging
Raymond Shipman pleaded guilty in November
An Apex man was given a $7,500 fine in November after pleading guilty to keeping liquor for sale without the proper authority. (File photo)
A Nunavut judge has ordered a man to pay a $7,500 fine after police seized more than 30 bottles of booze from his home in Apex two years ago.
Raymond Shipman pleaded guilty in early November to keeping liquor for sale without the proper authority. He was originally charged in May 2020, after police searched his home and confiscated more than 30 bottles of liquor and $720 in cash.
At the time of the offence, police estimated the total street value of the liquor to be $5,760.
According to a written decision from the Nunavut Court of Justice dated Nov. 5, police started watching Shipman in early 2020 after he applied for a permit to import 348 bottles of liquor into the territory. The Nunavut Court of Justice released a written copy of the sentencing on Monday.
The Crown asked for Shipman to be fined $12,000, and the defence asked he face the minimum $5,000 fine. Justice of the peace Will McNair said Shipman has shown regret for his actions and that he has made a “significant donation” to the women’s shelter. But he also spoke to the negative effects of bootlegging in Nunavut as he laid out his decision.
“When people drink to oblivion, they inflict the violence and abuse and suffering that they themselves have been subjected to, and another generation is traumatized, and the cycle is perpetuated,” McNair said.
“Mr. Shipman, you have made that problem worse.”
McNair also noted in his decision that Shipman struggles with alcohol himself and his criminal history “reflects” that. For that reason, McNair ordered that Shipman be prohibited from purchasing alcohol from Iqaluit’s beer and wine store, as well as from the liquor commission. He can, however, purchase alcohol from licensed bars and restaurants.
The decision does not state how long this prohibition was to last.
Shipman was given 18 months to pay his fine, and if he is convicted a second time for bootlegging, the minimum fine is $10,000 or jail for up to two years, or both, McNair said in the decision.
One week , worth of sales. o will double next weeks sales , to make up lost sales.
Let’s see… Police estimate his 30 bottles to be worth $5,760, so average $192 per bottle. Assuming the same distribution from his 348 bottle order, that’s $66,816 total revenue, maybe around $40,000 total profit after expenses. Well, ok he didn’t get to sell 30 of them, so maybe around $33,000. And they decide to fine him $7,500.
.
Oooooooh his wrist must be red from that slap. Bet he’ll reconsider next time.
People can only be punished for the things that the Crown can prove they did. If they can’t prove he sold the other bottles then he can’t be punished for it.
But he can be denied access to permitted liquor based on the assumption. Which he was.
114. (1) Every person who contravenes section 84, 85 or 87 is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction
(a) if an individual
(i) for the first offence, to a fine of not less than $5,000 and not exceeding $25,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both
.
They could have fined him $25,000 and put him in prison for a year. They chose to fine him $7500. If you want to put an end to bootlegging, the punishment needs to deter the crime.
I grew up in Apex. How come I never heard of this guy? I had to make my own home brew for crying out loud.
I thought bootlegging was to vanish with the Beer and Wine store? Or was that just smoke and mirrors to get this pushed through?
It pretty much has. My brother, god help him, has complained a few times that it’s getting harder to find a sixty.
It is still very much around, more people drinking and late at night when the beer and wine are gone where do you think they go to get more booze to keep partying?
I think there is even more bootlegging going on now adding beer and wine for sale and not just spirits anymore.
his wrist didn’t even get hurt from that slap lol like what? 2 days of bootlegging and its all caught up.