Tuesday, September 15, 2015

SCOTT HERON CONVICTED!


UPDATE:

Yes, he was convicted. Sentencing will be in November. Hope he has to spend some quality time behind bars with hard-core criminals. 

Scott Heron's defence lawyer tried to accuse Geoff Purdy of arson during cross-examination of the convicted smuggler's testimony against Scott Heron, a one-time fellow Niagara Regional Police officer.

"Former Niagara Regional Police officer Jeff Purdie 

denied any involvement in starting a fire that destroyed 

business he once owned in St. Catharines." 

Tony Ricciuoto

That was on Tuesday of the trial. On Wednesday, the Crown brought forth evidence that Heron made unauthorized CPIC checks on himself and others while he was an NRP officer.

Today, Bernie Polino, a fellow cheese smuggler who was championed by former Ward 5 Councillor Martha Lockwood to push aside a long-time operator of the Bay Beach snack bar, and who later allowed Martha and her partner to run a tee shirt shop in the building, will testify for the Crown, probably part of a plea deal when he was arrested for smuggling. Bernie got away with numerous health and safety violations when he operated the snack bar and Martha Lockwood should have been charged with conflict of interest for her involvement in Bernie's business while making crucial votes on the status of the Bay Beach Properties. And so the saga continues ...


I've been waiting for this. For five years actually. Ever since Bernie Polino told me that he doesn't have to worry about problems with the health department regarding his snack bar at Bay Beach because, "I have friends in the police department." Well, one of those "friends" is currently on trial for smuggling cheese and chicken wings across the border while using his status as a cop to make it through customs unchecked. His name is Scott Heron and some might recall he was in a fatal accident on the QEW where his friend Andy Passero was killed. In early reports there was mention that neither occupant of the truck was wearing a seat belt and that speed was a likely factor in the crash. The other driver is currently serving time for his role in the accident. So Heron's name was familiar to me and when I was told that he was Bernie's partner in the snack bar, it all made sense. I just knew there was something fishy, or shall I say cheesy going on.

The whole house of cards came down when another NRP poster boy was nabbed at the border for smuggling steroids. The feds in Buffalo got a hold of Geoff Purdie and he dropped a dime on his fellow smugglers Bernie, Scott and Sgt. Casey Langelaan. Since then, Bernie has pled and paid a fine; Casey has resigned from the NRP and paid a fine; Purdie served a year at Club Fed in the States and is now singing like a canary at the courthouse in Welland, part of his plea deal on smuggling charges. He is no longer an NRP officer.

Sometimes, there is justice for criminals. In this case, justice is being meted out to those who are supposed to catch criminals, not behave like them. Heron will probably be given a light sentence. I hope I'm wrong and the judge throws the book at him. But these guys are Teflon® coated because they are also protecting others, some in very high places. Scott has already tried to use his accident injuries as an excuse for his wayward ways. Just as a point of reference, Purdy made it to the Sunshine List before he was arrested. He was making around $120,000. per year. It is said that the cheese smugglers avoided close to $300,000. in taxes on the products they smuggled into Canada. Just let that settle in. This was a large scale operation and these guys are probably still working some angle to make money now that they're out of their Sunshine List salaries. 

For me, it was personal. I ran the snack bar across the street from Bernie's and we were constantly under threat by the health department, which never seemed to care that Bernie was operating his business in the sand using coolers, a garden hose and unsecured propane tanks. We knew that the health department was being sicced on us by Bernie and his "friends" but we could do nothing except watch as the very uncomfortable inspector looked and looked for anything to cite us with. She refused to go across the street to see Bernie's mess but found that a hole in the screen door was a violation. She came on the hottest day of the summer, when we were extremely busy and demanded that we throw out fresh food because our refrigerators were not cold enough. She had no right to do that; food was safe and fine but she was under orders to make us look bad. She later apologized saying that our kitchen was very, very clean. (That apology came after her third trip to inspect. We even purchased a new refrigerator to please her and she didn't even look at it.)

So, I am hoping that Scott Heron sweats a lot. I hope he faces financial ruin for what he's done because, what he's been formally charged with is nothing in comparison to what he's accused of in the complaints against him from long before his arrest.

20 comments:

  1. That Scott Heron was a very frequent visitor to an illegal body shop located in Black Creek, also has a reputation for distributing illegal drugs, that person has close relatives at Fort Erie Town Hall, so that is why Harry Schlange would not close the business down , even though I and neighbours here complained to Town Council about it, he is protected by Mayors Wayne Redekop and Doug Martin ,the whole town is in the hands of criminal elements., many people here are afraid of what is going on here. This mans brother was just arrested in Niagara Falls for selling drugs , so it is basically a family business. Years ago an investigation of the NRP, the" Archer Report' found out that the police here is rife with nepotism , and improper police practises.

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    1. One only needs to go back to a story from the CBC three years ago to see that Purdie had a long record of cop abuse. The bar The Plaice where Purdie's Baby Momma worked is a popular watering hole for certain town officials.

      Makes you wonder how Purdie is making his living nowadays. I'm sure he's being taken care of by those he knows secrets about. (Reminds myself to check GoFundMe to see if he's on there.) LOL

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  2. They may only get a light sentence for the crime but the CRA will not have mercy on them for undeclared income. If they avoided over $300,000 in taxes how much money did they make.

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    1. Lots. This is just the tip of the iceberg. It has been said that these guys have been "in bidness" for a long, long time.Bernie Polino and ex-sergeant Casey Langelaan got off easy. They must know where some of the bodies are buried, so to speak.

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. Sorry Porgey. I had to delete your comment because it may be slanderous.

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  5. You forgot to mention that it was the same prick Officer Purdy who overreacted at the Hospital prayer rally and caused the arrest of Dr Henry and two loyal Welland Hospital supporters.

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    1. There are so many reports on both Purdy and Heron that I completely forgot about the hospital rally that turned into a mess due to an over-eager cop (that's putting it lightly.)

      The whole problem is that there are others on the force who need to be weeded out. Remember the NRP officer from Ridgeway who was charged with domestic assault? Whatever happened to that? Other officers have numerous complaints, seems that 23 Division was full of 'em. I still remember that during that time, I was visited five times by the police because of things I wrote on this blog that offended Greg Bonito who was friends with Bernie Polino. The visits stopped after Heron and friends were charged. Co-incidence?

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  6. I feel that these happenings are not just in Fort Erie, I once owned property and a business in Niagara Falls , the drug business is doing very well in that city, as well, a blind eye is shown towards insiders who deal in illicit drugs, Chippawa, the stuff was out in the open for many years, it seems like there is some kind of concordat between police and the dealers. I, a long time ago lost confidence in our police service.

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  7. NOT fair to paint all of the NRP with the same brush. Fort Erie group were rebels but that has changed over the past couple of years or so. Thanks to the cheese, steroids & fowl charges. AS regards to Chippawa it is now the place to buy a house in N Falls so that has now changed except for one strip of housing & that will never change. You can't slam the whole based on a few rotten apples & that is not restricted to just the NRP, take a close look at council & the BS that the last major movers & shakers did to the 4 councillors. Eventually the courts deal with the problems, it may take a while but eventually all is revealed & the guilty get their just desserts.

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  8. People seem to have a laugh over the whole adventure, the "cheese cop" and so on. So if it was freshly printed passports for sale, hand guns or other items that crooks would like to bring north with a wave of the hand this might be a different story. Or would it? So the entire episode shows a weakness in the system. That in itself should merit some gratitude. Cheese? So what. Now they know. The NRP look like a bunch of overbearded, overweight, overpolite, and undertrained boyscouts to the cops over the river, where a week in the Niagara criminal enviroment would look like a paid holiday compared to whats going on in western NY state these days. Cheese cops? Isnt Heron going to get a paid time off? Maybe. Anyway, when he gets back they can put him on the drive by spanking detail in Niagara Falls for his probation. We pay for this nuttyness so it should have at least some level of amusement if theres any justice in the world.

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  9. Sharon, would you start a conversation about the pros and cons of charging beach admission to out of towners?
    The Bay Beach Master Plan suggestions will be presented at Council this Monday.

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  10. What is the definition of a resident? Would it include the seasonal property owners/

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  11. Not unlike someone visiting Niagara Falls, being able to visit the lakefront should remain free of charge. At Niagara Falls money raised from parking fees more than cover a variety of expences the NPB seem to manage very well. Would familys pay to park then get charged one by one as they go through some gate? Residents, nonresidents whomever, no one deserves this kind of treatment. At best put in a donation box or two similar to what they did at the outdoor pool and if people want to pay so be it. To be double charged like that is just plain wrong. Besides if we ever hope to attain park status for that stretch of waterfront charging people to visit a park purchased with tax funds sets a bad example. If that was privately owned OK, but not public land, and certainly not in some way that takes advantage of people that are not living here full time or otherwise. We sure could use a more open ended approach to promoting tourism here. The EDTC isnt going to do it except for their seasonal interest in a horse track (still foreign owned no less). When that property was privately owned an admission charge was appropriate. Not now. Resident visitors or not.

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  12. To charge or not to charge, is a big issue. I think the problem this year at Bay Beach is the fact that too many buses come in drop off beachgoers for the day and then pick them up at four and leave. One must agree that the beach was too crowded. Should a capacity limit be set to stop this problem?

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  13. That beach is for sure too crowded at times. Imagine a family arriving and being told "sorry, you will have to wait untill a few people leave" like at some popular restaurant, wait for a spot to open up. Approaching Bay beach by boat it looks like an ant hill someone stirred up with a stick sometimes. No wonder not that many locals from outside CB go there. Its a mob scene at times and some people enjoy that. If there was more waterfront open to the public we wouldnt see that so much. Maybe that is something that has to be considered even though there are greedy self centred types that have done their best to keep that from happening.

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  14. Absolutely NO CHARGE!!.........the beach is everyone's right to enjoy and the town should look elsewhere on turning a buck a two. After all years of successive council's (with 1 or 2 exceptions) have squandered opportunity after opportunity here. So don't make day tripping beach goers pay for it now.

    Tear down all the fences, charge/regulate parking and encourage private business to set up shop nearby. This in turn employs people and pays taxes back to the already way too wasteful, short sighted TOFE, who for the most part cannot see past individual greed and opportunism(gotta keep those connected insiders rich and happy!). That should keep them away for at least a short while and what little public beach we have left, safe for ALL to enjoy, whether you're from here , there or wherever.

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  15. So you want the Fort Erie taxpayers to foot the bill for all of the Beach improvements & amenities, & the tourists who come for the day get the use free.
    That makes no sense.

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