VANCOUVER — For the first time in Canadian history, a lawyer has pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of a criminal organization.
Vernon lawyer William Jacob Mastop entered the plea in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday, in the same high-security courtroom where members of the Greeks gang were found guilty of murder Nov. 25.
Mastop admitted that he participated in the criminal activities of the Greeks, five of whom were convicted in three brutal drug-related murders in 2004 and 2005.
Mastop, 46, will remain out on bail until his sentencing some time in the new year. His next appearance — to fix a date for a sentencing hearing — is Jan. 18.
The surprise guilty plea came as Mastop was due to go to trial next month.
His lawyer David Crossin began the proceedings by telling Associate Chief Justice Austin Cullen that he wanted to cancel jury selection and the trial date.
A new indictment in the case alleging one criminal organization count was then read into the record, after which Mastop pleaded guilty.
Outside court, Crown David Jardine said the conviction is the first of its kind. “To my knowledge, there has been no other case in Canada where a lawyer has been charged with — and now admitted to — participating in the activities of a criminal organization. So it is unprecedented from that point of view,” he said.
Jardine indicated in court that he would seek a federal prison sentence for Mastop, which means longer than two years.
But he would not elaborate outside court, saying he preferred to make his submissions before the sentencing judge.
Jardine said that two days after the Greeks murder convictions, there was a ruling that allowed into evidence at Mastop’s trial intercepted telephone calls between the lawyer and members of the gang.
“So, my guess is those two factors put together may have assisted the resolution of this matter,” Jardine said.
Under Mastop’s bail conditions, he is not allowed to practise law pending his sentencing hearing.
Jardine said it will be up to the Law Society of B.C. to decide whether he is disbarred permanently from the profession.
Law Society communications manager Robyn Crisanti said a disciplinary process will begin as soon as Mastop is sentenced.
“We need to wait for sentencing and we need to wait for judge’s reasons just to allow this whole criminal component to conclude,” she said. “Then once that’s done, we’ll start our process, and that may or may not involve a disciplinary hearing.”
The society has the ability to bypass a hearing and go straight to a discipline committee to decide Mastop’s fate.
“I am not saying we would do that in this case. We don’t have all the information yet, so it is far too early for me to say that,” Crisanti said.
