Gerald O’Reilly, an 81-year-old Beaconsfield businessman, has been sentenced to a 5-year prison term for his leading role in the sale of millions of contraband cigarettes.
Quebec Court Judge Louise Bourdeau sentenced the octogenarian and his top accomplice, Nova Scotia resident David Alexander Phillips, to four years for the fraud they committed between 2006 and 2008 by shipping 21 million cigarettes from Beaconsfield (often stored in a suburban home there) to Nova Scotia.
She also sentenced the pair to a one-year prison term for committing a crime for the profit of a criminal organization.
Bourdeau said O’Reilly’s age was not a factor in the sentence when weighed against all the aggravating factors in the case.
O’Reilly was stone-faced as he was taken into custody. He turned toward a relative in the front row of the courtroom and tried to change his dark blue suit jacket for another jacket that the woman held in her hands.
A special constable told O’Reilly he’d have to go into the prisoner’s dock wearing what he had on. The tall, imposing man then grunted: “I just want to get my bag (a change of clothes he had prepared for the sentence).”
“I’ll take care of it,” the special constable replied while she directed O’Reilly into custody.
Defence lawyer Isabel Schurman had no comment about the sentence O’Reilly received. But she confirmed that she will appeal the sentence immediately.
If the Quebec Court of Appeal agrees, O’Reilly might be ordered released as soon as this afternoon while the appeal is pending.
O’Reilly is also appealing Bourdeau’s verdict in February which found him guilty of two counts of fraud, conspiracy, committing a crime for the benefit of a criminal organization and money laundering.
The prosecution had requested an 8-year prison term.
The defence requested a sentence of two years, less one day, that O’Reilly would have served in the community. His lawyer also suggested the sentence be followed by three years of probation. He was also willing to do 240 hours of community service.