A married couple facing multiple gun and drug offences was released on bail with strict conditions while their case proceeds through the courts.
Justice of the Peace Ruth Campbell presided over the bail hearing on Friday, Jun. 7, 2024, which was held in person at the County Courthouse in Napanee. Husband and wife Terry Boldrick and Sharon Boldrick, both 58 years old, were represented by two different defence attorneys: Sharon was represented by Natasha Calvinho of Calvinho Criminal Defence in Ottawa, while Terry was represented by Oliver Abergel of Abergel Goldstein & Partners LLP in Ottawa. Michael Mandelcorn of Mandelcorn Law in Kingston represented the Crown.
The court was delayed by an hour to allow for a change of venue due to the number of people in attendance. Traditionally, bail court is in a very small courtroom at the Ontario Court of Justice on Dundas Street in Napanee, but the hearing was moved to the County Courthouse on Thomas Street in Napanee.
Wearing handcuffs, the elder Boldricks sat side by side in the prisoner’s dock. Several family members were in the courtroom, including Terry’s father and brother and Sharon’s brother and his partner. The defence attorneys established that it would be a joint hearing and that they were seeking release of the couple to hopefully reside together in the same home with one of the sureties present.
The Crown called Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Sergeant David Horowitz as the first witness. It was established that Horowitz is an experienced officer with both the OPP and Peel Regional Police and that he was a member of the streets and gangs, street crimes, and homicide investigation units at various points throughout his career.
He testified that he was the supervisor of the team that surveilled and then executed a search warrant at the Boldricks’ Thrasher Road property last month.
Information came to the OPP in 2024, Horowitz stated, that Matthew Boldrick was dealing drugs. Terry and Sharon own a home on Thrasher Road; Matthew and Joshua also reside on the top level of the home. Surveillance of Matthew was applied for an unspecified number of weeks, and a search warrant was executed at 5 a.m. on Friday, May 24, 2024.
Horowitz testified that the Tactics and Rescue Team, “commonly called the SWAT team, went in at first and secured the five occupants who were in the home.” These five occupants were Terry, Sharon, Matthew, Joshua, and a minor child.
Then, the investigative team entered the home and conducted a marathon six-hour search which uncovered hundreds of weapons and a large amount of illegal drugs, Horowitz detailed. The length of the search was three times longer than the average search, he testified, because of the “extremely large amount of property” seized and catalogued. He called it the largest seizure of his career; prior to this, the most handguns he had seized in a search was three. This “significant seizure” of hand guns was unprecedented even during his time working in the Greater Toronto Area.
“Very rarely [has a kilos-sized] seizure of drugs occurred in this community,” he stated, noting that the drug evidence has been sent to Health Canada for analysis. There were a large number of photos taken, just shy of 300 total, and video of the search. Mandelcorn went through several pictures to demonstrate the number of guns and drugs that were found. The sergeant described each of the weapons seized and where in the home they had been found.
Of the single family three-level home, Horowitz described a large basement, with a master bedroom, a child’s bedroom, and a single family unit (no locks on bedrooms were noticed).
The search found 25 handguns, more than 70 long guns, two kilograms of MDMA (ecstasy), one kilogram of methamphetamine, 200 grams of cocaine, assorted pills, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and a Kevlar bulletproof vest. Horowitz said that such a vest is “designed to stop handgun rounds. People are legally able to buy them, [but] the only reason for them is to stop bullets.”
In the glove box of a beige GMC Jimmy, registered to Matthew Boldrick, police found a six-shot revolver loaded with six rounds of .38 special ammunition. In the back seat of a white Mercedes, also on the property, was a Winchester 22 rifle.
“All the illegal substances were seized from Matthew Boldrick’s bedroom,” on the upper level of the home, Horowitz confirmed.
A point of interest in the court was a package of pink powder believed to be cocaine. Asked about the pink suspected cocaine, the officer replied, “This is a new trend we are seeing; we have never encountered it in our community before.”
Most of the handguns were stored beneath Matthew Boldrick’s bed, easily visible and accessed. Horowitz testified, “Most of the firearms located in the bedroom were loaded, but not racked.” (That is, the slide was not pulled back to allow the round to move into the chamber, ready for firing.) He explained that gun users, including police, will keep a weapon unracked to avoid accidentally shooting themselves, but it only takes one motion to rack the gun before firing.
A loaded shotgun was in the open against the wall, and three loaded handguns were under the pillow on the bed, including a Glock with an extended magazine. There were also guns in a safe in the bedroom.
On the same floor of the house, a shotgun was found in Joshua Boldrick’s bedroom, and a handgun was under the pillow.
A scale with suspected pink cocaine residue was found in the living room on the same upper floor, which also contained children’s toys and several more gun safes.
In the basement, there was a locked firearms cabinet (believed to be Terry’s), a shotgun outside the safe, and one hanging on the wall, as well as the box with pistol mags and holster. A large amount of cash was found in the home, as well.
None of the four adult residents had a registered firearm at the house. Some of the guns, Horowitz noted, were registered as having been stolen, and some were registered to an individual but had not been reported stolen.
Cross-examination
Calvinho asked if it was common for hunters to wear bulletproof vests like the ones found in the home. Horowitz said he was a hunter himself, and “I have never even thought of wearing a bulletproof vest.”
Calvinho argued that Matthew Boldrick was the mastermind behind the criminal activity. She focused her questions on the fact that “Matthew was the target of the investigation,” not his parents, and that they “have no criminal record, no previous concerning history whatsoever.”
“Was there an attempt to interview Sharon Boldrick?” Calvinho asked.
The officer answered, “No, due to time constraints.” He did interview the sons, he testified, and Joshua claimed not to know the gun was under his pillow. Matthew, on the other hand, was interviewed for about an hour, “contrary to his lawyer’s advice,” and he stressed that he wanted the OPP to know that his parents were not involved in any crimes, saying, “What is in residence is mine.”
Justice of the Peace Campbell asked the officer some questions, including the reason for charging the elder Boldricks. Horowitz answered that it was simply the scale of the charges, the number of weapons and guns seized, and the fact that these firearms were all in a home owned by Sharon and Terry Boldrick, easily accessible to them and a minor child.
After hearing from each of three people who volunteered as surety, Abergel summarized that this case is very much “if it walks like a duck and looks like a duck, it must be a duck.” He argued that the Boldrick parents seem to be “regular. These are not people who think this is a joke… My client works on a military base [and was] trusted with special clearance for over 17 years… married 30 years… neither have any previous involvement with crime.”
The police never thought the parents were involved in this crime, Abergel declared, saying that the elder Boldricks were only charged because of the sheer amount of materials seized from their homes.
“At the end of the day, I don’t think anyone believes that Terry or Sharon were involved in selling drugs or guns… and we have a [bail] plan that is secured by very, very significant financial bonds,” he said.
In response to their arguments, Mandelcorn again summarized the amount of illegal material found in the family home and the seriousness of the drugs involved, which he called “deadly and dangerous.” He asked Campbell to take into account the fact that the officer had testified that many of the materials were not behind locked doors and were easily visible, and he said the idea that these items all came into the house unnoticed by Sharon and Terry “quite frankly boggles the mind.”
He also argued that there was a minor child in the home and that the child was put at great risk of harm.
Campbell took a recess to write her decision.
Campbell returned after about 30 minutes to read her decision. She addressed the Boldricks, saying, “This is not a trial… The strength of the Crown’s case with respect to your sons is strong.”
“Neither of you have a criminal record,” she noted, stating that she believed the sureties understood what they were undertaking and had pledged a great deal of money on the Boldricks’ behalf.
Balancing the facts as presented and the arguments, she said, “I do not lean in favour of detention… The court concludes the [surety] plan is adequate to protect the security of the community.”
After weighing all the factors, Campbell concluded the Boldricks would be released on bail, but they must reside separately with their individual sureties. They are not to communicate “with each other or their sons as the investigation continues… The police need to finish their investigation to see if it turns in a different direction.” They are not to be within a 200-metre radius of each other except to attend court hearings and to prepare a defence in the presence of their lawyers.
A curfew of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. was imposed, allowing Terry to continue his work, with an exception made if he is in the company of the sureties. They are to possess no weapons and no imitation weapons. One surety did possess weapons for the purpose of farming and hunting, and they were given 72 hours to get the guns out of the house.
“This is not a house arrest,” noted Campbell. “You have no criminal records; you are innocent until proven guilty… I am not going to get into whether you should have known what was going on under your roof or with respect to [the minor child relative].”
“If things are going well, and the police have finished the investigation, your lawyer can work with the Crown on changing any of these conditions,” Campbell indicated.
Sharon Boldrick wept openly at the conclusion of the hearing while her handcuffs were removed and hugged her lawyer and her family members.
The case returns to case management court in late June. Kingstonist will provide further coverage of this case as more information become available.
