“Criminal conspiracy charges are complex because the law targets not just the act itself, but the agreement to commit a crime,” says Robbie Tsang, managing partner at Mass Tsang . “Even without direct evidence of the crime, prosecutors can pursue a conviction, which makes skilled legal defence essential for anyone facing these charges in Canada.”
Last month, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported that they had dismantled one of the largest dark web drug trafficking operations in the country’s history. The RCMP’s investigation, which resulted in the seizure of 75 kilograms of narcotics and 10,000 pills, determined that the “RoadRunna” dark web operation was shipping 400 drug packages weekly across the country. Officers arrested seven men from the Greater Toronto Area on a range of charges, including drug trafficking, possession for trafficking, weapons offences, and conspiracy to traffic. Police charged all the suspects with conspiracy to traffic drugs, of which two were charged solely with conspiracy.
After reading this news story, two questions might come to mind: What is the “dark web,” and what exactly are “conspiracy” charges?
Simply put, the dark web is an encrypted part of the Internet, only accessible with special software, often used to engage in criminal activities like drug trafficking. Conspiracy charges are not so simple, as they are based on two or more persons’ planning to commit a criminal offence, even if the planned act is not carried out. The agreement to carry out the crime is the core component of the offence.
“The RCMP undoubtedly believe that the two suspects charged solely with conspiracy are key operatives in the RoadRunna dark web drug trafficking operation,”
says criminal defence lawyer Robbie Tsang , managing partner of the Greater Toronto Area’s Mass Tsang law firm.
“However, they were apparently unable to connect the suspects with any concrete evidence linking them to the drugs, drug transactions, or weapons. The investigation is probably ongoing, and perhaps they hope to secure enough new evidence to pin additional charges on them.”
Robbie’s co-managing Mass Tsang partner, Jeff Mass , adds that if the RCMP does not bring additional charges, the conspiracy case against the pair should be interesting.
“To secure a conspiracy conviction, the Crown must prove that the conspirators agreed to commit the offence together and were mutually intent on pursuing the criminal objectives.”
He says. “Absent solid evidence linking them to the drugs, the Crown’s case will largely revolve around circumstantial and other indirect evidence.” Jeff concludes that this “essentially allows the defence to rebut with claims that the Crown is engaging in ‘conspiracy theories.’”
Let’s take a closer look at criminal conspiracy charges under Canadian law.
Section 465 of the Criminal Code defines criminal conspiracy, and precedent-setting rulings from higher courts have clarified many of its nuances. At its essence, the Code defines conspiracy as the act of conspiring with another person to commit an indictable or summary conviction offence. In criminal justice practice, most conspiracy charges involve offences related to drugs, firearms, robbery, fraud, murder, and organized gangs.
Those convicted of conspiracy generally face the same punishment as someone who is convicted of committing the actual offence. However, Section 465 also includes two distinct forms of criminal conspiracy that carry specific penalties upon conviction:
The murder conspiracy charge is solely tried as an indictable offence and carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
The other distinct form of conspiracy addresses acts designed to get someone prosecuted for something they didn’t do. For example, business partners who hatch a scheme to get a rival arrested and charged for fraud, or gang members who falsely accuse a rival of murder to get them locked up. The degree of punishment is based on the seriousness of the fictional offence the innocent party was accused of. For major crimes that carry long prison terms, a conspiracy conviction carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. Otherwise, the maximum punishment is two years less a day, provided for as the maximum for most summary conviction offences.
Section 465 also declares that conspiracies hatched in Canada to take place outside the country shall be deemed to have been conspired to happen in Canada, provided the offence is unlawful in the other jurisdiction. Likewise, conspiracies hatched outside of Canada to take place within the country shall be deemed to have been conspired tow within Canada.
The “everyone who conspires with anyone” language used in Section 265 to define criminal conspiracy is vague. As written, two buddies who discuss robbing a corner market could technically violate the law, even if their discussion was spurred more by excess alcohol consumption than any intent. Fortunately, the Supreme Court of Canada has clarified the meaning of criminal conspiracy through numerous precedent-setting decisions. In many of these decisions, the high court re-emphasizes that a primary purpose of criminalizing conspiracies is to prevent an unlawful objective from being carried out and thus prevent subsequent serious harm from occurring. That said, even if the planned illegal act is carried out, the conspiracy charges may still apply.
In one of its first conspiracy rulings, The Queen v. O’Brien [1954] S.C.R. 666 , the high court established that the essence of the conspiracy offence is the “agreement” between the parties to commit the offence. That is, the intentional formation of the agreement by the parties is the criminal act. The ruling has been cited in over 100 other high court cases and countless lower court conspiracy decisions. Some other Supreme Court of Canada conspiracy rulings have established that:
Absent a written agreement, intercepted communications, or co-conspirator Crown witness testimony, prosecutors typically rely on circumstantial and other indirect evidence to prove their case. Thus, in defending clients against conspiracy charges, criminal defence lawyers primarily focus on raising “reasonable doubts” that their client intentionally agreed with others to commit the alleged criminal offence. Conspiracy cases are often highly complex, which can provide defendants with numerous avenues for raising reasonable doubts beyond the threshold required for conviction. For just one example, testimony from a co-conspirator who turns Crown witness may lack credibility due to their own criminal involvement or plea deals they may have received.
With over 30 years of successfully defending their Greater Toronto Area clients against drug trafficking charges, Mass Tsang’s criminal defence lawyers frequently defend them against related conspiracy charges, as well. As such, if you’re facing any form of criminal conspiracy charge in the GTA, contact our firm today for a free consultation.
