THUNDER BAY – Charges from Thunder Bay police’s Project Dolphin takedown against two men, including one who had a previous conviction overturned, have been unsubstantiated after the prosecution declined to present any evidence.
Keith Ritchie and Fortunato Colistro were each found not guilty on seven drug trafficking related counts following an abbreviated trial with no evidence or witnesses at the Thunder Bay Courthouse on Tuesday.
Appearing by video conference, federal Crown prosecutor Michael Jones told the court he would not be calling any evidence against the two accused.
The charges against Ritchie and Colistro had been laid by the Thunder Bay Police Service in December 2015, stemming from the ongoing examination of evidence obtained from computers and cellphones during the initial bust.
During a court appearance last month, Superior Court Justice Bonnie Warkentin ruled that Ritchie’s credit card records were inadmissible as evidence as a result of their connection to a search warrant that had been issued under insufficient grounds.
Ritchie had previously been found guilty in 2017 of six other charges related to the Project Dolphin sting but the Ontario Court of Appeal quashed those convictions late last year, ordering a new trial.
That appeal court found that an unlawful search of the cellphone belonging to co-accused John Tsekouras uncovered coded communication between the two, leading to subsequent search warrants for Ritchie’s credit card records and residence. That decision noted there was little evidence against Ritchie outside of what was found as a result of that search.
Defence lawyer Joseph Wilkinson confirmed those charges have since been stayed.
Tsekouras, who prosecutors said was the Project Dolphin kingpin, is serving an 11-year sentence following a 2015 conviction. Tsekouras had brought the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada but his appeal was denied early last year. Tsekouras also last year pleaded guilty to additional charges that added another five years to his sentence.
Several others had pleaded guilty and sentenced to multi-year prison terms following the original 2011 city-wide raid.
