New Brunswick Mountie Cpl. Ron Francis found dead: lawyer

FREDERICTON – A New Brunswick Mountie who pleaded guilty last month to assaulting four fellow RCMP officers has been found dead.

Cpl. Ron Francis made national headlines last year after he complained he wasn’t allowed to smoke medicinal marijuana for PTSD while in uniform.

Francis’s lawyer T.J. Burke confirmed in an email to The Canadian Press that Francis was found dead on Monday.

No details on the cause of death have been released.

After entering his plea last month, Francis said he hoped his case would bring attention to the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Burke said outside court that the fallout from PTSD is increasingly coming before the courts and called for a provincial and federal task force that deals with the issue.

Late Monday, Burke called Francis “more than a client.”

“He was a childhood friend. I am saddened by his death,” Burke said.