Andrew Schueppel, a farmer from Godmanchester, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to charges in connection with cannabis trafficking.
The Journal de Montréal reports that Schueppel was arrested in 2019 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) at the request of U.S. authorities in New York state, who accused him of participating in an operation to deliver significant quantities of Canadian cannabis to wholesalers in the Northeastern United States between 2004 and 2013. Court documents indicated that Schueppel may have smuggled up to 70 kilograms of high-quality cannabis per week on his farm, which is adjacent to the American border.
Schueppel lost a bid to escape extradition to the U.S. in 2021 after Quebec Superior Court Judge Marc-André Blanchard rejected claims of weaknesses in the evidence presented by American prosecutors. According to previous reports by the Journal de Montréal, this evidence included statements from three former accomplices turned informers who claimed to have helped transport tonnes of smuggled cannabis.
Schueppel’s trial in the U.S. was scheduled for last November, but the farmer pleaded guilty, following a plea bargain, to smuggling between 1,000 and 3,000 kgs of cannabis. He was officially sentenced in March to four years in prison, followed by three years on supervised release or probation. He was also ordered to pay $100 in court fees.
Schueppel will be held in an American jail; however, he could apply to be transferred to a Canadian penitentiary. (SR)