OFFICER JAILED FIVE-PLUS YEARS

A disgraced Peel Regional Police officer who stole what he thought was
cocaine from a botched Royal Canadian Mounted Police drug sting was
sent to prison today and will soon be fired.

This afternoon in Brampton court, Cst. Sheldon Cook, 43, received a
jail term of five years and eight months from Justice Casey Hill.
He'll serve his sentence in a federal penitentiary near Kingston.

Cook, who was taken to hospital yesterday morning with chest pains,
bowed his head as he was taken into custody in front of his weeping
wife Rhonda and other family members in the courtroom.

"Over and above the stain upon the administration of justice arising
from criminality by a police officer breaching the trust imposed upon
him or her, such conduct inevitably, but unfairly, results in
diminishment of the reputation of his or her police force and fellow
police officers," Hill said in his ruling. "Sheldon Cook is a mature
offender ... there is no evidence that, in breaching the public trust,
he operated under the influence of any superior officer."

If Cook, a 19-year veteran of the force, doesn't resign, he will most
likely be dismissed officially from the force following a Police
Services Act hearing. He had been suspended with pay since his arrest
nearly five years ago.

Prosecutors David Rowcliffe and Anya Weiler asked the judge to impose
a 12-year penitentiary term on Cook, who was found guilty in June of
unlawful attempt to possess an illegal substance for the purpose of
trafficking, three counts of breach of trust, theft and unlawful
possession of stolen property, and possession of marijuana. Cook's
lawyers asked for a sentence of two years.

"As a police officer, the offender knew that possession of about a
pound of marijuana was more than a trifling breach of the Canada Drugs
and Substances Act and completely antithetical to the oath of his
office as a sworn peace officer," Hill said.

Cook insisted he was following orders when he took the fake cocaine to
his Cambridge home. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The officer told the court his superiors knew he took home 15 bricks
of flour after his shift ended in the early hours of Nov. 17, 2005. He
said Acting Det. Warren Williams told him to keep the bricks at his
home and ranking Det. Marty Rykhoff was aware he was doing so.

Rykhoff has denied putting the packages in Cook's cruiser or having
any knowledge that Cook took them home. He denied telling Cook to take
them to his home when he testified as a Crown witness last year.

Williams also denied ever seeing the bricks of fake cocaine in Cook's
cruiser.

Cook was among several officers, including Williams and Rykhoff, who
had unloaded boxes of rotting mangoes concealing suspected cocaine
bricks from a courier truck in Mississauga the night before.

Cook has denied stealing the product, which he says he knew was
fake.

The so-called cocaine turned out to be white flour, being shipped from
Peru to Canada as part of an RCMP-controlled drug sting. The fake
drugs went missing after arriving at Pearson International Airport.

RCMP investigators followed a GPS signal emanating from the bricks of
flour to find them in a Sea-Doo in the garage at Cook's home.

Meanwhile, a search of Cook's home uncovered marijuana and several MP3
players that were connected to an unrelated police
investigation.

Cook testified the marijuana wasn't his.

Meanwhile, Hill has revoked an application by federal lawyers to seize
Cook's financial interest in his Cambridge home they said was used as
a "stash house" for drugs.

The judge said Cook's wife, two daughters and in-laws still live in
the home and issuing a forfeiture order would be unfair and
overreaching.

As a result of Cook's arrest, the federal justice department decided
not to prosecute at least six drug cases where Cook was the arresting
officer. A month after he was charged, a Peel judge acquitted former
Toronto Argonaut player Orlando Bowen of drug charges and assaulting
police. The charges were laid by Cook and another officer. Bowen
alleged at his trial that Cook planted cocaine on him during his arrest.

A $14 million lawsuit filed by Bowen against the Peel force and
several officers, including Cook, is still pending.