HALIFAX — A former Nova Scotia Mountie has been sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison for stealing 10 kilograms of cocaine from an exhibit locker and arranging sales that earned him $100,000 in cash.
Craig Robert Burnett — former commander of an RCMP National Port Enforcement Team — stole the drug from the force’s Nova Scotia headquarters about eight years ago, and replaced it with another substance.
Before he sentenced Burnett, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice James Chipman said the former senior officer’s “egregious breach of trust” was motivated by financial gain.
Burnett was convicted in April on seven charges following a 21-day trial.
Court heard the former RCMP sergeant gave the cocaine to a friend, who then gave it to a third man to sell.
Burnett was convicted of theft over $5,000, trafficking cocaine, laundering the proceeds of crime, obstructing police, fabricating evidence and two counts of breach of trust.