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Saturday, September 28, 2013
Family man with no gang ties got caught up in drug trade; sent to jail in Project Deplete bust
A family man with no prior record will serve 3 1/2 years in prison after being nabbed as an incidental target in a sweeping police drug-and-guns crackdown.
Mark Beitz, 32, was taken from Queen’s Bench Justice Colleen Suche’s courtroom in handcuffs Tuesday as several family members looked on in apparent sorrow.
Beitz previously admitted guilt for the role he played in facilitating a cocaine deal between his cousin, Jamie Christopher Korne, and a paid police informant cops employed in what was dubbed Project Deplete.
“You’re feeling sorry for yourself today,” Suche told Beitz, as she accepted the jointly recommended prison term for the first-time offender.
“But the part I really want you to think about is the damage you’ve caused to society ... that’s why you’re going to jail for 3 1/2 years,” Suche said.
Beitz helped broker a Jan. 9, 2012, cash-for-cocaine deal between the agent and Korne, a transaction for which he was to be paid a measly $100.
He didn’t supply the 11 ounces of the drug in the $10,000 deal, police heard.
The meeting between Korne and the police agent took place in the back of a vehicle at a car wash and was captured on video surveillance, the Crown said.
Korne received a 3 1/2-year prison term late last year.
Beitz apologized to the court and his family. He’s been on bail without incident since shortly after he turned himself in to police in February 2012.
“I don’t ever want to see this place or go through this again,” he said.
"You're feeling sorry for yourself today," Suche told Beitz.
"But the part I really want you to think about is the damage you've caused to society ... that's why you're going to jail for 3.5 years," Suche said.
Project Deplete saw RCMP and Winnipeg police target what they described as a number of major players in the provincial drug trade.
Some involved had various gang associations. Others, like Beitz, had none whatsoever.
In all, 16 suspects were nabbed in the months-long covert probe which saw the agent paid $500,000, plus expenses, in phases.
All but one have since pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 18 months to eight years.
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