Prosecutors want a disgraced Winnipeg police constable to go to prison for seven years, after he pleaded guilty to a list of crimes including selling drugs, fixing traffic tickets and sharing a photo he took of the partially naked body of a woman who died of an overdose.
Provincial Crown attorney Ari Millo said while Elston Bostock has no criminal record and previously received a policing award from the Governor General — which was rescinded after the allegations against him came to light — he “cannot be fairly described as a person of prior good character.”
The 22-year veteran of the Winnipeg Police Service “just didn’t get caught until now,” Millo told Court of King’s Bench Justice Kenneth Champagne during Bostock’s sentencing hearing Tuesday.
The facts of the case showed Bostock repeatedly engaged in criminal conduct for years, undermining police investigations, corrupting colleagues and damaging confidence in the administration of justice, the prosecutor said.
“Elston Bostock’s actions have caused reputational damage to the WPS on a scale rarely, if ever, seen in the history of the service.”
Court heard while Bostock, 49, is no longer an officer, he will get to keep his police pension.
He appeared in court Tuesday wearing a grey sweatsuit and shackles around his ankles, and was at times emotional when the topic of his young daughter came up.
WATCH | Prosecutors want 7 years for disgraced Winnipeg officer:
Prosecutors want 7 years for disgraced Winnipeg officer
Prosecutors want former Winnipeg police constable Elston Bostock to go to prison for seven years, after he pleaded guilty to a long list of crimes including selling drugs, fixing traffic tickets and sharing a photo he took of the partially naked body of a woman who had died of an overdose.
The crimes Bostock pleaded guilty to include getting traffic tickets voided in exchange for liquor and gift cards, stealing cannabis from a police scene, sharing confidential police information, selling drugs — including cocaine and psilocybin — to friends and other officers, and sending lewd texts about a photo he took of the nearly naked body of a woman who had fatally overdosed.
Prosecutor Millo said Bostock’s moral blameworthiness for the last of those offences “cannot be overstated.”
“That young woman had just died, wasn’t dressed and [was] as vulnerable as a person could be. He then sent disturbingly callous messages, sexualizing her for the members of the very police force that was entrusted with preserving her dignity,” Millo said.
Court heard a number of victim impact statements from that woman’s family, including one from her 13-year-old daughter, who detailed how the incident made her lose trust in police as she grieved her mother.
“My mom deserved better, and so did our family. I want people to understand that what this officer did hurt me very deeply,” the girl’s statement said.
“I am just a kid, and this has changed how I feel and how safe I feel. I hope no other child has to feel this kind of pain.”
Concerns date back to 2009
Bostock was charged after a lengthy investigation, dubbed Project Fibre, that began in April 2024.
Millo said the investigative team uncovered intelligence reports and memorandums from the police service’s professional standards unit about Bostock dating back to 2009, which indicated he “was a deeply compromised officer who engaged in drug abuse [and] trafficking, and leveraged his position to further criminal interests.”
Court heard a plea deal saw prosecutors cap their requests at six years for the provincial charges and one year for the federal drug charges, on the condition that Bostock’s lawyers ask for no less than a two-year penitentiary sentence on the provincial charges and a consecutive sentence of any length for the drug charges.
Federal prosecutor Janna Hyman said the evidence showed Bostock was trafficking drugs from virtually every level of controlled substance in Canada, from cocaine and MDMA to psilocybin and Xanax.
“This was in the nature of a pharmacy, in the sense that whatever substance people wanted, Mr. Bostock was prepared to either provide from his own supplies, or he was prepared to go out and source and sell,” Hyman said.
‘Terrible tragedy’: defence
Defence lawyer Richard Wolson asked for two years for the provincial offences, to be followed by a short consecutive sentence on the drug charges, the length of which he did not specify.
He asked the judge for a shorter sentence that might give Bostock hope looking to the future.
Wolson called the case a “terrible tragedy” involving a person who gave the graduation speech for his service academy class and went on to spend nearly half his life policing, but will now end up a prisoner with a potentially lengthy sentence.
A psychiatric report prepared for court found no evidence of psychiatric illness, but did show Bostock compartmentalized many of the difficult scenarios he faced as an officer, from infant deaths to suicide attempts, said Wolson. He self-medicated with alcohol and drugs for years during periods of depression.
“The report, in our view, helps to explain why he made so many poor choices over the period of his offending behaviour,” Wolson said, adding Bostock told the doctor who prepared the report that he “didn’t see a way out in the last couple of years, [and] that the police service had just become something that he couldn’t handle.”
Bostock “was at times out of control with drugs and alcohol, and he did things that just don’t make any sense,” Wolson said.
He added that while Bostock was being assessed for the psychiatric report, he also described a “culture in the police service of getting rid of tickets” for people.
When given the chance to address court, Bostock made apologies to a number of people, including the police for tarnishing their reputation and other officers for how his behaviour affected their careers.
He also apologized to the family of the woman whose body he shared a photo of, telling them he’s “regretted the indignity I have caused” every day he’s been incarcerated.
He then turned his attention to his own family, apologizing for the emotional toll the case has taken on them, including his young daughter.
“I’m so sorry I’ll be away for a little while longer,” he said.
The judge is expected to give his decision in Bostock’s sentencing next week.