FORMER JAIL GUARD PLEADS GUILTY

Accepted Bribe From Prisoner's Girlfriend To Smuggle Marijuana

A former jail guard has pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe to smuggle
marijuana into Barton Street jail.

Derek Brown was arrested two years ago after police wiretaps linked
him to a conspiracy to sneak drugs into the Hamilton-Wentworth
Detention Centre, where he worked as a part-time corrections officer.

On Friday, Brown pleaded guilty to possession for the purpose of
trafficking, accepting a bribe as a peace officer and breach of trust.

Dressed in a blue dress shirt and sporting a short crew cut, the
27-year-old said nothing more than his plea during the brief hearing.

His lawyer Steven Howarth said he would be seeking a conditional
sentence during his client's scheduled May 16 sentencing. He also
indicated that Crown attorney Katherine Livingstone planned to ask for
a stiffer punishment.

Outside the courtroom, Howarth said his client did not belong in
jail.

"He's a young man who planned to be a police officer whose life has
already been ruined," he said.

"To send someone like this to jail would basically fly in the face of
the principles of sentencing like rehabilitation."

Howarth added his client had felt "intimidated by the prisoners"
involved in the drug-smuggling conspiracy. He is currently employed as
a security guard.

Police learned of the plan to bring drugs into the jail through
wiretaps set up as part of an unrelated investigation into the 2005
shooting death of Michael Parmer outside an Ottawa Street North club.

According to court documents, Brown was under surveillance by police
the night he was arrested on Feb. 24, 2006.

Brown had made plans to meet with Roxanne Montour -- who was in a
relationship with an inmate at the time -- while police listened in on
his cellphone conversation.

Police watched as Montour and Brown met briefly in an east-end plaza
parking lot.

They later pulled Brown over and found $605 in cash. There was also a
balloon containing around 110 grams of marijuana under the driver's
seat. During questioning, Brown told investigators he bought the
marijuana for his own use.

"It was just a stupid decision ... I wasn't coerced or anything," he
said.

Montour, 20, later pleaded guilty to bribing a public officer,
trafficking and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

According to police, marijuana sells for as much as six times its
street value in jail.