A corrupt former Surrey Mountie has been sentenced to 18 months in jail after pleading guilty in April to breach of trust.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Murray Blok said Dawwd Soukary “caused harm to the reputation of both the RCMP in general and all its dedicated, hardworking officers” when he began providing criminals with confidential police intelligence.
Soukary, 31, had only been on the job a few months when the RCMP got a tip in August 2020 that he was involved in buying drugs on behalf of criminal associates, identified only as M.N. and A.H.
The RCMP’s anticorruption unit began a months-long undercover operation targeting Soukary, which Postmedia News detailed last month.
“The person who made the report to police said Mr. Soukary told him that once he was able to work on his own, he intended to access police databases to obtain information for his associates,” Blok said in his ruling, handed down Aug. 27.
“The RCMP formulated and then implemented a plan to recruit Mr. Soukary as an undercover operator for a fictitious undercover operation targeting a fictitious drug trafficker. He was paired with another undercover operator who pretended to be corrupt and associate with drug traffickers.”
Between Oct. 28, 2020, and Jan. 27, 2021, there were 43 undercover scenarios “consisting of interactions between Mr. Soukary and his fictitiously corrupt partner, and 16 additional scenarios involving the sham undercover drug investigation.”
Soukary was arrested on Jan. 27 during a sham cocaine deal, in which he planned to skim money from the RCMP.
Soukary’s cellphone was seized, searched and analyzed, showing that he “repeatedly texted either photographs of confidential information or confidential information obtained in the course of his employment” to M.N. and A.H.
Soukary sent internal bulletins to his criminal associates, including one with information about suspects believed to have targeted M.N.’s residence in a drive-by shooting.
He sent texts with screenshots from a police database related to a person Soukary thought M.N. should rob of $40,000, as well as a list of drug-users or dealers that could also be targeted.
Soukary queried licence plate numbers and addresses for his associates.
“While Mr. Soukary was aware of the risk of violence arising from the sharing of this information, there is no evidence that any person was impacted because of it,” Blok noted. “There is no evidence that the confidential information Mr. Soukary shared compromised any active RCMP investigations and no evidence that the shared information led to any other criminal conduct.”
Soukary grew up in Ottawa in “underprivileged circumstances,” the judge said.
“His parents are immigrants from Egypt. He was an accomplished basketball player in his youth and received education, at least in part, through athletic scholarships, ultimately earning a bachelor of science degree.”
He resigned from the RCMP after his arrest. He now works at an Ottawa gym.
Blok summarized the Crown submissions, which said that “Soukary occupied a special position of trust that provided him with access to protected confidential information. As part of his employment, he swore an oath to safeguard confidential information he accessed thorough his employment. His actions were a flagrant violation of the trust placed on him as a sworn RCMP member.”
“He knew he was providing confidential police information to individuals with connections to criminal activity, including those in the Lower Mainland drug trade,” Blok’s decision said. “His decision to access and share confidential information on eight separate occasions in a six-week period was not impulsive or the result of a momentary lapse of judgment.”
Blok also noted submissions by Soukary’s defence lawyer about his challenging upbringing.
“Mr. Soukary struggled to adapt to the paramilitary nature of the RCMP and fit into its culture. His difficulties in adapting left him feeling isolated and anxious, a situation exacerbated by his having to move to a new province during a pandemic,” Blok said.
“The defence notes the undercover operation targeting Mr. Soukary aimed to create a climate that normalized police corruption and tempted him with opportunities to commit offences.”
Blueksy: @kimbolan.bsky.social
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