Pacifique Niyokwizera was sentenced Monday to a 26-month detention sentence for possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking after being arrested last October with a loaded 9mm pistol in his hand. belt.
• Read also: Arrested in possession of a prohibited weapon: serious charges against Pacifique Niyokwizera
The 20-year-old young man made the headlines at the end of 2021 when the video of a violent SPVQ arrest of him went viral. His family filed a $180,000 civil suit against the city and the police department in the following months.
Archive photo
The intervention leading to his arrest took place on October 18, 2023. The police intercepted a car in which the young man was as well as two other individuals. The officers intervened since they were aware that the driver of the vehicle was driving without a driver’s license.
Noticing during the intervention that wires were hanging in the passenger compartment, suggesting that the car could have been stolen, the officers searched the vehicle. After finding what appeared to be a firearm silencer in the trunk, they asked the three occupants to get out.
Loaded gun
It was at this moment that Pacifique Niyokwizera himself informed them that he had a weapon.
The police found a loaded 9 mm pistol in his belt.
Archive photo
While searching the vehicle, patrol officers also found a shoulder bag containing 30 grams of cocaine, divided into one-gram bags, as well as nine cell phones.
“The search of the phones which could be assessed confirmed that the individuals were engaged in cocaine trafficking,” explained Monday the Crown prosecutor in the case, Mr.e Maël Tardif.
26 months of detention
Niyokwizera initially pleaded guilty to all nine charges he faced in the case. But due to the rule preventing multiple convictions, the sentence imposed targets the charges of possession of a loaded prohibited weapon, possession of a firearm while prohibited and possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
In another case, the young man also pleaded guilty to one count of failure to comply with conditions.
The two parties presented to the court a joint suggestion of 26 months of imprisonment for the one who is serving a first detention sentence. As Niyokwizera has been detained since his arrest, he will have one year and six days left to serve.
The cases of his two accomplices, Colin Carel Ntahindurwa and Alexandre Sirett Rosario, accused in connection with the drugs found in the car, are still before the courts.
