Ex-Mountie intelligence official sentenced to 14 years for breaking Canada's secrets law

A judge has sentenced a former senior intelligence official in Canada’s national police force to 14 years in prison for breaching the country’s secrets law

Canada Secrets Trial

A judge Wednesday sentenced a former senior intelligence official in Canada’s national police force to 14 years in prison for breaching the country's secrets law.

Cameron Ortis led the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Operations Research group, which assembles classified information on cybercriminals, terror cells and transnational criminal networks.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger said Wednesday that Ortis will be credited with having served seven years and 155 days in custody since his September 2019 arrest.

A jury last November declared Ortis, 51, guilty of three counts of violating the Security of Information Act and one count of attempting to do so. They also found him guilty of breach of trust and fraudulent use of a computer.

Ortis had pleaded not guilty to all charges, including violating the secrets law by revealing classified information to three individuals in 2015 and trying to do so in a fourth instance.

The prosecution argued Ortis lacked authority to disclose classified material and that he was not doing so as part of a sanctioned undercover operation.