Disgraced Winnipeg police officer sentenced to 7 years in prison 'believed he was untouchable'
Elston Bostock previously pleaded guilty to selling drugs, fixing tickets, sharing photo of topless dead woman
He gave the graduation speech for his recruit class when he joined the police force, served as an officer for more than 20 years and even got a since-revoked award from the Governor General for exemplary service in 2024.
But on Friday, now-disgraced Winnipeg constable Elston Bostock was sentenced to seven years in prison, after a lengthy internal investigation revealed he was fixing traffic tickets, sharing confidential police information, selling drugs and committing other crimes over the last eight years of his career, "operating with impunity under the cover of his uniform and badge," according to the judge who sentenced him.
"He did it because he could," Court of King's Bench Justice Kenneth Champagne said in court as he read his sentencing decision, calling it a "dark day for public confidence in the administration of justice."
"All Bostock’s criminal activity carried out for many years leads to the inescapable inference that he believed he was untouchable."
While prosecutors and Bostock’s lawyers initially made separate sentencing recommendations of seven years and just over two, Bostock signed on to a joint recommendation for the seven-year term Friday, after Justice Champagne indicated he was considering an even longer sentence, in part because there was no joint recommendation for him to defer to.
At the beginning of Bostock’s sentencing hearing, Champagne said his decision as it stood "comes out to 13.5 years," though he expected that could be reduced after considering the principle of totality, which aims to avoid excessive sentences on multiple charges.
"Holy f--k," Bostock said in response from his seat in the prisoner’s box, covering his face with his hands and shaking his head.
"I accept that there was a plea bargain, but the parties have not made a joint submission on sentence. "I hesitate to go along with it," Champagne said.
He noted trial judges are required to give lawyers notice if they are considering giving a harsher sentence than what prosecutors ask for, allowing them to make more submissions if they want to.
"Failure to do so risks having the harsher sentence overturned on appeal," Champagne said.
Lawyers took a brief recess to consider those comments, after which defence lawyer Richard Wolson told court Bostock had accepted the seven-year joint recommendation.
The plea deal saw the Crown cap their sentencing request at six years for Bostock’s provincial offences and a year for his federal drug charge, on the condition that Bostock’s defence ask for a sentence of no less than two years for the provincial charges and a consecutive sentence of any length for the drug offence.
In sentencing arguments, Wolson asked the judge for a shorter sentence that might give Bostock hope looking to the future.
'Extent of police corruption is unknown'
Bostock, 49, pleaded guilty in recent months to 10 charges for offences dating back to 2016 and continuing until his arrest in 2024 — among them, getting people's traffic tickets voided in exchange for liquor and gift cards.
"The extent of police corruption is unknown, but Bostock's moral culpability is extremely high," Justice Champagne said of those offences on Friday. "It appears many people in the city have Bostock on speed dial."
Bostock also admitted to stealing cannabis from a police scene, selling drugs including cocaine and psilocybin to friends and other officers, and sharing confidential police information — something Champagne said he "did not hesitate" to do when asked by associates "tied to the criminal subculture in Winnipeg."
Perhaps Bostock's most "offensive and shocking" offence was sending lewd texts alongside a photo he took of a topless Indigenous woman who had fatally overdosed, which the judge said anyone "apprised of the circumstances of ... would be outraged" by.
"The Winnipeg Police Service cannot afford the loss of trust of one more Indigenous girl. The Winnipeg Police Service has some work to do," Champagne said.
Bostock was charged after a lengthy investigation, dubbed Project Fibre, that began in April 2024. That probe was sparked by reports from confidential sources that Bostock was associating with and sharing police information with people outside the force involved in illicit activity, court previously heard.
While some of the discoveries about his conduct were made early on in the investigation, others didn't happen until Bostock's personal cellphone was analyzed following his arrest.
Prosecutors previously told court the team investigating Bostock uncovered intelligence reports and memorandums from the police service’s professional standards unit about him dating back to 2009, which indicated he "was a deeply compromised officer who engaged in drug abuse [and] trafficking, and leveraged his position to further criminal interests."
A report prepared for court found no evidence of psychiatric illness in Bostock, but did show he compartmentalized many of the difficult scenarios he faced as an officer, from infant deaths to suicide attempts, and self-medicated with alcohol and drugs for years during periods of depression.
Near the end of his career, Bostock was drinking alcohol and using marijuana during shifts, that report said.
When given the chance to address court during his sentencing hearing last week, he apologized to a number of people, including the police for tarnishing their reputation and other officers for how his behaviour affected their careers. He also apologized to the family of the woman whose body he shared a photo of.
While Bostock has been removed from the police force, court previously heard he will get to keep his pension.
Court heard Friday that the need for protective custody in prison means he will likely spend 23 hours a day in a cell.
Three other officers were charged alongside Bostock for alleged conduct related to his offences.
Matthew Kadyniuk, 34, pleaded guilty last week to breach of trust and theft under $5,000, after the pair stole cash and other items they believed to be evidence during a 2024 "integrity test" conducted by police.
Two other officers' charges are still before the courts.
In a news release Friday, Winnipeg Police Service Chief Gene Bowers called Bostock's case "a stain on our service’s reputation” and said his "actions have no place within our ranks."
He said he will give an update in March at a public meeting of the Winnipeg Police Board and take questions on the force’s efforts to rebuild public confidence and restore accountability in its ranks.
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