Marc-Andre Cusson, a resident of Sutton, Quebec, was sentenced to 14 years in prison in Vermont for his role in a drug trafficking and money laundering operation in Canada and the U.S. Cusson was accused of being the ringleader in the operation that imported tons of marijuana to the U.S. and smuggled millions of U.S. currency into Canada.
He and 25 co-accused were arrested in 2002 after an investigation by the RCMP, the Surete du Quebec and the U.S. Drug and Enforcement Administration. In 2003, the U.S. requested the extradition of Cusson on numerous charges including money laundering, conspiracy to export cash in excess of $10,000 without filing a declaration and drug trafficking. In 2009, the Court of Appeal for Quebec allowed Cusson’s extradition (see Cusson c. Canada (Ministre de la Justice), 2009 QCCA 1849).
Cusson appealed his extradition to the Supreme Court of Canada but the request for leave to appeal was dismissed a year ago. In 2005, Cusson was convicted in Canada for similar offences and sentenced to 10 years in prison which was subsequently reduced to 4 years.