But Superior Court Justice Raymond Pronovost ordered five years ago that Vallières serve a six-year prison term consecutively if he is unable to pay a $10-million fine within 10 years.
It ruled Vallières is “required to pay a fine equal to the value of the property that was in his possession or under his control, that is, $10,000,000.
“This amount is warranted in light of the scheme for the forfeiture of proceeds of crime, under which a fine must, in principle, be equal to the value of the property of which an offender had possession or control at some point in time.
During the summer of 2012, Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec — the organization that oversees the marketing of maple syrup for Quebec producers and acts as a regulated sales agency — realized that 9,571 barrels of syrup, out of 16,224 stored at its warehouse in St-Louis-de-Blandford, had been emptied.
More than 20 people were arrested in the SQ’s investigation, and Vallières received one of the harshest sentences.
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