An Alberta woman is missing from a correctional facility near Edmonton after an alleged fake stay of proceedings letter was used to grant her release.
Global News has learned the release occurred at the end of April at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre (FSCC), which houses both inmates serving jail sentences of up to two years and those in remand awaiting judgement.
A fraudulent “stay letter” was allegedly submitted under the name of a fake Crown prosecutor and sent through a bogus “defence counsel,” according to a whistleblower Global News has agreed not to identify due to the risk of them losing their job.
“It’s probably not that hard to forge one of those,” Edmonton defence lawyer Tom Engel said. “All you have to do is get a genuine stay letter and then, I don’t know, you can manipulate things pretty easily and create something that looks genuine.”
Mackenzie Dawn Hardy, 24, was in the Fort Saskatchewan jail after being arrested in Red Deer twice in the span of a week for similar alleged offences.
Police say the first incident happened on March 4, when Mounties responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle. Police said they found three vehicles travelling together, with one of them matching the description of a stolen vehicle.
Police said officers tracked the vehicle covertly, and when it got stuck in the snow on a dead-end road, RCMP said the officers arrested the driver.
At that time, Hardy, a 24-year-old resident of Red Deer, was charged with:
· Two counts of possession of property obtained by crime
· Impaired operation of a motor vehicle
· Flight from police
· Driving while prohibited
· Fraudulent concealment
· Possession of a controlled substance (meth)
· Driving without insurance
On that day, Hardy appeared before a justice of the peace and was released.
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One week later on March 11, RCMP said officers out on patrol in Red Deer spotted a vehicle that had been reported stolen. Once again, police said the officers began following it and arrested the driver on the north side of the central Alberta city.
Hardy was once again charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, driving while prohibited, fraudulent concealment and driving without insurance. She was also accused of driving without registration and two counts of breaching her release order.
This time, Hardy was not released and instead sent to jail in Fort Saskatchewan, about 15 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
When she arrived is not known, but she didn’t stay there very long, having been released on April 25.
“The public deserves to know what happened. There ought to be an explanation about what happened and the type of explanation that’s not going to prejudice her fair trial right,” Engel said.
“Obviously mistakes were made.”
So what happened? Attempts to get answers on what happened have come up short.
Alberta RCMP confirmed officers at the Red Deer detachment are investigating the report of an offender being released from the jail as a result of alleged fraudulent reports that their charges were stayed.
The union that represents staff at the Fort Saskatchewan jail, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, said it would not comment on the accidental release.
Global News has not seen the alleged fake release letter firsthand, but the province confirmed it exists and was used.
“The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) can confirm Ms. Hardy was released after the correctional centre was presented with fraudulent documents indicating the charges against her had been stayed,” said a statement from Alberta Justice.
The province said as soon as it became aware of the false release, the Crown got an arrest warrant for Hardy and also referred the alleged use of fraudulent documents to the RCMP to investigate.
“The ACPS takes this matter very seriously and steps have been taken by all parties to ensure this cannot happen in the future,” the province said, but would not elaborate on what those steps were.
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“As this matter is under investigation and the accused person has matters before the court, no further comment will be provided.”
Engel said a legitimate stay of proceedings letter can be submitted to a jail both from a court clerk, or from a defence lawyer — and in some cases the inmate may not have even been aware that is happening.
“All that may have happened with her is, all of a sudden ‘You’re free to go, your charges have been stayed.'”
Engel has experience with inmates being accidentally released, explaining a client of his once was but still showed up for their court date.
“It was crazy, but again, you know — mistakes are made,” he said. “I also know of other cases where forged court documents have been delivered to prisons and have been acted on and people have been… wrongly released.”
On Wednesday, Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis avoided answering questions at the Alberta Legislature but the ministry said it would issue a statement.
“An individual was released from custody following receipt of documentation that was believed to provide the authority for release. The matter is being investigated internally, as well as with the police of jurisdiction and the Ministry of Justice,” a statement from the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services said.
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