Canadian man caught with sled full of drugs cuts plea deal with U.S. prosecutors

BURLINGTON, Vt. – A Quebec man arrested while dragging a sled loaded with more than 82 kilograms of prescription pills into the United States has reached a deal with federal prosecutors.

According to a plea deal filed in U.S. federal court, 21-year-old Cedrik Bourgault-Morin intends to plead guilty to a single charge of possession with intent to distribute.

He faces up to five years in prison, according to his plea agreement.

Bourgault-Morin was arrested by border patrol agents in Vermont on Jan .13 after he tripped a sensor while going across the border from Quebec.

Court documents have said he was wearing white camouflage and pulling a sled that held a large duffel bag, which was also wrapped in white camouflage.

Prosecutors say agents found 300 vacuum-sealed bags of Xanax pills in the duffel bag. Xanax is an anti-anxiety medication. They say the pills had a street value of US$1.6 million.

Court documents have offered no details regarding where the drugs might have been headed.

A provision of the plea deal stipulates that Bourgault-Morin still could potentially be prosecuted for his involvement in a wider alleged distribution conspiracy.

“The circumstances of his offense indicate he had the assistance of co-conspirators on the Canadian side of the border, and he was anticipating assistance of co-conspirators on the American side of the border,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ophardt wrote in court papers filed after Bourgault-Morin’s arrest.