Key player in Quebec maple syrup heist gets day parole

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One of the key players behind the theft of nearly $18 million worth of maple syrup from a warehouse in a small town northeast of Montreal says profit was not the only thing on his mind when he helped pull off one of the most infamous crimes in Canadian history .

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When he appeared before the Parole Board of Canada on Thursday, Richard Vallières admitted he also took part in the heist because he was seeking revenge on the Fédération des producteurs acericos du Québec, which had pursued him for selling the heavily regulated liquid on the black market .

Following a lengthy hearing, parole board members Luc Chamberlain and Janie Fortin decided to grant day parole to Vallières, 43, after he was previously turned down twice. He is serving a prison term of seven years and 10 months; in July he will reach his statutory release date, the two-thirds mark of his sentence from him.

“You still have work to do to become aware of the elements that brought you to commit your crimes,” Chamberlain said. “But you have (recently) made a significant amount of awareness” of the harm Vallières caused.

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During his hearing, Vallières said he realized he caused many maple syrup producers to drop the prices of their products when he flooded the market with the syrup he stole.

“I thought I was superior, or more intelligent than others. I told myself I’d never get caught,” Vallières told the board. “It came with consequences. I ended up in (a maximum-security penitentiary).”

He added that later, while serving his time “at (the) Archambault Institution, I saw a guy get killed over a pear — a fight over a pear.”

Vallières admitted he stole the syrup to “make a lot of money” and because he developed a taste for “luxury items.” But he also revealed he was motivated by his long history of him with the syrup producers’ federation.

“I had run-ins with the federation, and one day I’m being offered maple syrup and I knew it was stolen,” he said. “I really wanted revenge. I wanted revenge because I had been pursued by the federation.

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“I wanted revenge because they pursued me and had my house seized.”

It appears Vallières was referring to a case that ended in 2007 with him being fined more than $1.8 million by the Régie des marchés agricoles et alimentarires du Québec, for selling maple syrup to unauthorized buyers.

The Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec oversees the marketing of maple syrup for Quebec producers and acts as a regulated sales agency.

During the summer of 2012, the federation realized that 9,571 barrels of syrup, out of 16,224 stored at a warehouse in St-Louis-de-Blandford, had been emptied. The sweet liquid in the 9,571 barrels was replaced by water. The federation called the Sûreté du Québec and reported that $17.8 million worth of maple syrup had been stolen from the group, which represents more than 7,000 syrup producers.

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The investigation revealed that Avik Caron, the husband of one of four people who owned the warehouse, hatched the plan to steal the syrup. It was Caron who made the offer to Vallières to steal the liquid gold. In 2017, Caron received a five-year prison term and a $1.2-million fine.

More than 20 people ended up being arrested in the SQ’s investigation, and Vallières received one of the harshest sentences.

As suspects were being rounded up, the heist made news around the world and was fodder for comedians who joked about a crime that could only be carried out in Canada.

While Vallières is serving a prison term of seven years and 10 months, it might be extended. When he was sentenced in 2017, Superior Court Justice Raymond Pronovost also ordered that six years be added if he is unable to pay a $9-million compensatory fine before the sentence expires.

Vallières has appealed that part of his sentence, and the matter is being deliberated on by the Supreme Court of Canada.

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