Former B.C. correctional officer pleads guilty to breach of trust

A former B.C. correctional officer has pleaded guilty to breach of trust.

Ramandeep Rai was charged with failing to report contraband and/or facilitating the use and movement of contraband, which in this case involved a cellphone.

She was also charged with breach of trust for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with an inmate at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam.

On Friday, Rai pleaded guilty to the contraband charge.

Now, the question for the court is whether Rai will face any jail time for her actions.

“At no point did she touch the cellphone,” Gagan Nahal, Rai’s lawyer, told Global News.

“She knew it was transported from one inmate to another. Rather than report it, she gave it a blind eye.”

The cellphone incident took place at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre, where Rai was a correctional officer in 2022.

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“If we look at similar cases that have happened in the past across Canada and the last one in B.C., they have attracted multi-year jail sentences,” Nahal said.

“In those cases, there’s money being laundered, drugs being smuggled into the facility, weapons being smuggled, profit being made by people in these public positions, but this case is really unique.

“There’s no evidence of any smuggling happening into the facility. Miss Rai did not make any profit or anything along those lines.”

Nahal said the breach of trust charge in connection with the allegation that she had an inappropriate intimate relationship with a prisoner is expected to be stayed by the Crown.

When asked if Rai had a relationship with an inmate, Nahal said he could not confirm that.

But he did say the case will come down to whether Rai can serve her sentence in the community or she must serve it in a penitentiary.

“A conditional sentence can be served in the community if she’s a non-violent offender, if she’s not a risk to public safety, and clearly she’s got no criminal record, and she’s never been part of any other criminal history in her life, and this was a non-violent offence,” he said.

Nahal said he expects that Crown will be seeking jail time for his client, but Nahal will be trying to convince the judge that a conditional sentence, served in the community, is more appropriate.

“It’s going to teach a lesson too,” Nahal said. “A criminal conviction comes with the fact that she lost her job, and it’s going to be very difficult for her to get employment elsewhere because there’s background checking and travel to other countries like the United States, that won’t be allowed.

“She’s going to be suffering lifelong consequences as a result from a criminal conviction in this case and that is a big deterrent for a young girl, 30, 31 years old and it’s going to haunt her the rest of her life.”

The judge has ordered a pre-sentence report and psychological test.

Defence says Rai’s father passed away a few months before the incident, so potential mental health issues need to be assessed.

A date for sentencing has not been set.

–with files from Rumina Daya