Personal trainer to pay fine after pleading guilty to trafficking steroids

A Sault Ste. Marie personal trainer was fined $2,000 Wednesday after pleading guilty to trafficking steroids three years ago.

Christopher Muncaster also was ordered to forfeit a number of items, including a Hummer, seized by the Mounties during their investigation, to the Crown.

The 36-year-old man's sentence was part of a plea bargain submitted to the court and jointly recommended by the federal prosecutor and his defence lawyer Jennifer Tremblay-Hall.

The offence, which involved four transactions, occurred between May 14, 2015 and Dec. 2, 2015.

Following his guilty plea, the Crown withdrew numerous other Controlled Drugs and Substances Act charges, including counts of trafficking and importing a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and production of a controlled substance, as well as a Criminal Code count of possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

Muncaster and another local man Richard Hurley were charged in January 2016 following an RCMP probe, dubbed Project OTamper.

At that time, the Mounties said they had executed a search warrant and seized 3.6 grams of suspected cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, steroids and currency, as well as evidence of steroid production.

Superior Court Justice Michael Varpio heard the local RCMP detachment received information in 2014 that Muncaster was involved in trafficking steroids at his fitness business.

As part of the investigation, an undercover police operator was to contact Muncaster, and indicate he was interested in weight and personal training and obtaining steroids, the judge was told.

The officer became a client in April 2015, and during a training session brought up the subject of steroids.

Muncaster was willing to supply the substances, and did so on a number of occasions, Ottawa-based federal prosecutor Michael Jones said.

Tremblay-Hall told the court her client, recently a new father, has no previous criminal record, has never been in front of the court before, and had been subjected to "extremely restrictive bail conditions including eight months of house arrest."

She called his guilty plea an indication of remorse.

When he imposed the sentence, Varpio explained to Muncaster that he had been facing charges that were far more serious.

But the Crown had rightfully taken into consideration that a lot of issues to be tried at his trial had been tried in the other case (Hurley's) and the Crown hadn't been successful, the judge said.

"You and the public need to understand the prior determination played a lot in the Crown's discretion," he told Muncaster, noting there were "powerful statements" in the court judgment regarding Hurley's case.

In April 2017,  Ontario Court Justice Romuald Kwolek acquitted Hurley of cocaine-related offences stemming from the OTamper investigation.

He determined that the Mounties had violated the man's Charter rights and ruled drugs seized during Hurley's arrest were not admissible at his trial.

Kwolek concluded that he was wrongfully arrested on Jan. 8, 2016 because the RCMP lacked reasonable and proper grounds to detain him.

In a 46-page decision, Kwolek said the warrantless arrest violated Hurley's right not to be arbitrarily detained and was unlawful.

On Wednesday, Varpio said trafficking steroids is a serious offence and a crime that was giving Muncaster a criminal record.

"A criminal record shows you need to be deterred and denounced," the judge told Muncaster, but "you don't need to serve custodial time."

He then added "I hope I never see you again."

Varpio also ordered Muncaster to provide a DNA sample for the national database __ an order sought by the Crown, but opposed by Tremblay-Hall, who suggested there was no basis to think her client would be before the court again.

The judge said trafficking is a for-profit operation and there is a concern that there might be some temptation to become involved again, so he was ordering Muncaster to provide the sample.

Muncaster also is prohibited from possessing firearms for 10 years.

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