Cst. Sheldon Cook, 39, will be going to trial on the charges sometime this afternoon after entering not guilty pleas on all counts at his arraignment.
Cook is being prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC), the federal government organization responsible for prosecutions on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada
Justice Casey Hill will be presiding over the case.
Cook, who works out of Peel's 12 Division, has been charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, along with attempting to possess a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and other charges back in late 2005.
The marijuana charge stems from a seizure of less than a pound of pot on Nov. 18, 2005. The other charge was laid after the RCMP tracked a shipment of what investigators believed was 15 kilograms of cocaine to a home in Cambridge. The substance found at the home turned out to be a flour-like substance meant to look like cocaine, court heard.
The bogus drugs were being used by the RCMP in a drug sting, according to Cook's lawyer.
A 14-year police veteran when arrested, Cook remains suspended with pay by the force until his case is dealt with by the courts.
Meanwhile, Justice Canada has decided not to prosecute more than half-a-dozen drug cases where Cook was the arresting officer.
Just a month after Cook was charged, a judge acquitted former Toronto Argonaut Orlando Bowen of drug and assaulting police charges that were laid by Cook and another officer. Bowen has filed a lawsuit against Peel Police that is still before the courts.
lrosella@mississauga.net
