Longpré sentenced, fined, for illegally importing liquid nicotine

ASherbrooke businessman will have to spend 45 days behind bars after pleading guilty to illegally importing liquid nicotine into Canada.

Sylvain Longpré, owner of the Vaporium store at Galeries Quatre Saisons, pleaded guilty to having provided false information regarding the importation of pure liquid nicotine before Court of Quebec Justice Conrad Chapdelaine on Wednesday

Longpré had contacted a Chinese company to import 99.8 percent pure liquid nicotine into the country. He acknowledged having known the success rate of importing such products into Canada from the company, which had provided him with an explanatory sheet of the chemical under which liquid nicotine would be imported in order in order to bypass Canada Border Services agents.

Between November 2013 and May 2014, Longpré made six transactions with the Asian company to import 300 to 400 kilos of liquid nicotine, valued at about $300 USD per kilo.

Crown prosecutor Frank D'amours, explained to the court that a milliliter of liquid nicotine was equivalent to one cigarette, giving the substance confiscated from Longpré equivalent to about 400,000 cigarettes.

Longpré also pleaded guilty to introducing or attempting to illegally introduce dutiable goods, the importation of which is prohibited.

These events took place at the East Hereford and Stanstead border crossing on June 9 and 20, 2014, where Longpré failed to declare flasks containing 50 ml of liquid nicotine at two percent by volume.

In addition to the 45-day jail term that will be served every other weekend over a six-month probationary period, Longpré will have to pay a $10,000 fine within the next 12 months.

"This is a relatively rare charge. This is the first time that I have imposed a penalty for importing liquid nicotine in 15 years. It is a sentence that seems reasonable to me under the circumstances," said Chapdelaine in imposing the sentence.

Christian Longpré, who was vice-president of Vaporium, also acknowledged his guilt for illegally importing liquid nicotine that took place on January 6, 2015, at the Stanstead border crossing,

In a rented cube vehicle, he provided a false statement and during the search of his vehicle, border services officers found 80 liters of over 99 percent pure nicotine valued at approximately $15,000. He received a four-month community sentence and a $2,500 fine.

Sylvain Longpré also says that the $27.8 million civil suit he filed in 2014 against the Attorney General of Canada, Health Canada, and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for damages he suffered as a result of the search and seizure and the charges against him and his companies have been put on ice for financial reasons. Longpré filed this suit in his own name and that of the two companies he heads, Vaporium and Vaperz Canada Inc.