Bradford, Ont. woman avoids jail time for hiring illegal Mexican workers
A Bradford, Ont. woman initially charged with forced labour and human trafficking offences was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to illegally employing foreign nationals to work for her cleaning company.
Fanny Chimoy Melendez learned she won't spend any time behind bars after being sentenced to two years of probation.
Chimoy Melendez's co-accused, Maria Flores Evariston, is set to stand trial in the new year.
Chimoy Melendez and Flores Evariston were first charged about two years ago after a joint investigation by South Simcoe Police Service and the Canada Border Services Agency.
The investigation started after two women, Cynthia Cisneros Benitez and Juanita Solario Nunes, were struck by a snow plow tractor while leaving their job cleaning a car dealership in Barrie and walking to the next job.
Cisneros died in the accident, while Solario Nunes was seriously injured.
Police said at the time that the women were Mexican-born workers who had been recruited, trafficked and defrauded after being brought to Canada with the promise of good housing and jobs.
Chimoy Melendez's lawyer, Jeffrey Goldglass, said the charges against his client were without merit and that she has paid a steep price because of the allegations.
The Crown had asked for Chimoy Melendez to be sentenced to six to nine months in jail and pay a $15,000 fine, but Justice Michelle Fuerst called the request excessive and not proportional before sentencing Chimoy Melendez to probation.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'The world is too messy for bureaucratic hurdles': Canada still bars Afghanistan aid
Ottawa has plans to finally stop blocking Canadian development aid to Afghanistan this year.
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.