A canonical summary of what Peter Sagos has personally published on his own websites about the 2009–2010 Bermuda case. The case’s public disposition — that Peter Sagos pled to a lesser charge on August 19, 2010, five days before a trial that had already been postponed four times — is a fact established by the trial record. The reasons he pled under that pressure are his own account. Every claim below is sourced to a page on petersagos.ca, petersagos.com, bermudavacation.info, or shadesubair.com.

The travel and the arrest

Peter Sagos, a Canadian day-trader and investor, travelled to Bermuda in August 2009 for a planned short stay. He later described the purpose of the trip as rest, opening an offshore bank account, and stock trading, with approximately US$32,000 brought onto the island in cash and undeclared to customs.

Within roughly 41 days of arrival, he was arrested by the Bermuda Police Service and charged with conspiracy to import approximately 1,500 pounds of marijuana. He states that he learned while incarcerated that he was also accused of importing 250 kilograms of cocaine, with a total alleged drug value of approximately 250 million US dollars — figures he says he learned about only after being jailed. The Bermuda Police Service later framed the case as a multi-defendant drug importation operation, naming the boat involved as “Bomba Shack” and linking Peter to three co-accused — Andrew Blatchley (Charleston, South Carolina), Jeannie Harden (Charleston, South Carolina), and Egide Plourde (Quebec). Peter Sagos states on his sites that he did not board the boat and had only a single brief conversation with its captain at a restaurant.

Source: Bermuda Vacation Story (petersagos.ca).

Egide Plourde — the co-accused who died shortly after release

The case originally named four defendants: Peter Sagos, Andrew Blatchley, Jeannie Harden, and Egide Plourde. Of the four, only Plourde has been the subject of published material in Peter Sagos’s own account of how the case was conducted.

Peter Sagos has published that Plourde had chartered the boat “Bomba Shack” and was therefore drawn into the same arrest. Peter Sagos has stated that he himself did not board the boat and had only a brief conversation with its captain at a restaurant, but that the Crown nevertheless sought to link him to the vessel.

Peter Sagos has published, in his own words, that Plourde became ill during the proceedings and that the authorities knew. Direct quotes from his published account:

  • “They kept Plourde in jail so they could manipulate the situation further, it was cruel and inhumane.”
  • “Plourde was kept in jail even though his lawyer knew he was ill and dying, also there was never any evidence against him.”
  • “Plourde had said at the beginning that he had cancer but he was not examined by doctors.”

Plourde was released in December 2009. Peter Sagos has published that Plourde died of cancer a few days after his release and that a video witness statement was taken from him on the day of his release. The published page on Plourde’s manufactured statement asserts: “Llewellyn Peniston and Ryan Leera wrote this ‘statement’ out and forced Mr. Plourde to sign it.” Peter Sagos’s account states that this written statement contradicts a separate video statement Plourde made, and characterizes the written statement as fabricated evidence.

Source: Bermuda Vacation Story; Bermuda Police Manufactured Evidence (petersagos.ca).

10½ months at Westgate Correctional Facility

Peter Sagos states he was held at Westgate Correctional Facility in Bermuda for approximately 10½ months between his arrest in 2009 and his release on August 23, 2010. He has described conditions in the facility, the difficulty of obtaining law books, and his interactions with other inmates.

He states that bail was repeatedly sought and refused throughout the pre-trial proceedings. His account: “They refused to give me bail. Any of us. All in maximum security prison. Asked hundreds of times. No bail for non-citizens.” In his account, bail was applied for hundreds of times and denied in every instance, all four accused were held in maximum security, and, in his experience, bail was not granted to non-citizens. The co-accused were released in December 2009; Peter Sagos remained in custody for the full 10½ months.

Peter Sagos connects the bail denial to Shade Subair’s conduct during her representation (3 November 2009 – December 2009). He states that bail was never entered into court during that period because of her, that she was not working on his behalf, that she gave him no advice beyond what the state cared to do, and that he did not know what she was doing at the time because she was working behind his back. He characterises her as a state actor pretending to be a defence lawyer. His published pages carry the same account: “Shade Subair was helping them keep me quiet,” “she also gave him wrong advice that prolonged his stay in a Bermuda jail,” and “She was helping the Bermuda Police Service from being sued and embarrassed.”

Source: Bermuda Vacation Story (petersagos.ca).

The legal-representation gap in Bermuda

Peter Sagos has published, in his own words, that he was unable to secure competent legal representation in Bermuda. He states he went through three different Bermuda-based lawyers during the proceedings, eventually describing the available legal pool as one where many lawyers practice corporate law rather than criminal defence, and where conflicts of interest in the small jurisdiction made the process difficult.

Direct quotes from his published account:

  • “There are only a few criminal lawyers and there are many cases of conflict of interest in Bermuda.”
  • “It is slim pickings in trying to find a good criminal lawyer down there.”
  • “There was no evidence against me, but I couldn’t find any (proper) legal representation on the island.”
  • “I went from lawyer to lawyer hoping that one of them would say to the judge due to lack of evidence we would like to make a ‘no case submission’.”

He has stated that he had conflict-of-interest concerns about at least one of his Bermuda lawyers (Elizabeth Christopher), who he later learned had a brother who was a senior Bermuda police officer. He has also published that he hired Michael Edelson, an Ottawa criminal lawyer, to monitor the matter from Canada. He characterises the representation gap as a contributing reason he could not effectively challenge the case in court.

Source: Bermuda Vacation Story; People Involved (petersagos.ca).

The procedural sequence in Peter Sagos’s case

Peter Sagos has published, in his own words, the following procedural sequence for his case. It is sourced to the case file as published on petersagos.ca, including the procedural ruling of Magistrate Khamisi M. Tokunbo dated 1 February 2010 and the committal order dated 4 February 2010.

  1. 3 October 2009 — the three other co-accused (Andrew Blatchley, Jeannie Harden, Egide Plourde) were arrested in connection with the case the Crown described as “Operation Havana.”
  2. 6 October 2009 — Peter Sagos was arrested. (He has published that the police had no evidence against him personally; the case against him relied on a connection to the three co-accused and the boat “Bomba Shack.”)
  3. 9 October 2009 — first court appearance; Kenville Savoury was appointed as Peter Sagos’s first counsel. Peter Sagos has published that Mr. Savoury was a former police officer for 30 years, that he was not recommended by anyone he knew, that he did not take notes during the police interrogation, and that he was fired on the second court appearance.
  4. 3 November 2009 — Shade Subair of Mussenden Subair was retained as Peter Sagos’s second counsel. Peter Sagos has published that the long-form procedure (testing of every piece of evidence) was completed under her representation and that he was found not guilty on the long-form procedure due to no evidence against him. He has also published that she recommended a short-form hybrid procedure and that he characterises that recommendation as having erred on purpose.
  5. December 2009 — Egide Plourde and Jeannie Harden were released. Peter Sagos has published that Plourde died of cancer shortly after his release and that the written statement attributed to Plourde was the principal evidence on which the Crown proceeded to committal.
  6. 13 January 2010 — Peter Sagos’s third counsel, Elizabeth Christopher, wrote to the Department of Public Prosecutions formally objecting to the Crown’s tendering of the Plourde statement, on the basis that Plourde had died and the defence could no longer cross-examine him. The Crown gave notice of intent to rely on the Plourde statement for the committal application.
  7. 1 February 2010 — Magistrate Khamisi M. Tokunbo ruled on the short-form preliminary inquiry. The magistrate admitted the Plourde written statement and DVD video over the defence’s objection, finding them to be in accordance with section 78 of the Pace Act, and found that “the committal papers disclose sufficient evidence that each of the three offences were committed.” The defence then elected not to further resist committal.
  8. 4 February 2010 — Peter Sagos was committed to the Supreme Court of Bermuda to stand trial. Alibi warning given. The committal order records the date for trial as 1 March 2010.
  9. From 4 February 2010 to 19 August 2010 — Peter Sagos remained in custody. He has published that the trial was postponed four times — from May 2010, to June, to July, to a final date of 24 August 2010. He has stated that prison-guard and inmate pressure intensified during the final 30 days, that he was afraid for his life, and that he pled to a lesser charge on 19 August 2010, five days before the rescheduled trial. He has stated that he had proof supporting his defence but that he could not hold out long enough to present it.
  10. 23 August 2010 — Peter Sagos was released from Westgate Correctional Facility and returned to Canada. He has consistently maintained his innocence of the original charge.

Source: Bermuda Vacation Story; Peter Sagos Personal Notes; Bermuda Police Manufactured Evidence (petersagos.ca).

Peter Sagos states that the plea was taken under duress, not free choice. The trial date was postponed four times in succession — from May 2010, to June, to July, to a final date of August 24, 2010. He pled to the lesser charge on August 19, 2010, five days before the rescheduled trial. He states that he could not outlast the final 30 days of the postponement: prison-guard and inmate pressure was escalating, and he was afraid for his life. He has stated that he had proof supporting his defence but that he could not hold out long enough to present it.

He has also published that he was advised to take the plea by both his Bermuda counsel at the time and his Ottawa counsel, and that the plea was entered under explicit disagreement with the underlying case.

Source: Bermuda Vacation Story (petersagos.ca).

Allegations about manufactured evidence

Peter Sagos has published a series of pages asserting that evidence used in the proceedings was manufactured or unreliable. The published allegations include:

  • A written statement attributed to Egide Plourde that Peter Sagos asserts was coerced and contradicts Plourde’s later video statement.
  • A physical-description statement by Crown witness Abdul Amjath — a businessman and restaurant owner who gave a signed statement dated 12 November 2009, recorded the same day at his place of employment and witnessed by a police officer (DC 469 Jackson) — describing the man Amjath identified in a 10-photo identification parade as having “a round face, black spikey hair,” a moustache, no glasses, and being “5′ 3″ high and [of] a medium build.” The identification was presented to Amjath on two occasions.
  • Allegations about the validity of a search warrant.
  • Allegations that disclosure materials were withheld from him by Canadian counsel for approximately 4½ years until he filed a complaint with the Law Society of Upper Canada, after which he states he received the disclosure.

Peter Sagos’s published response to the physical-description statement, on petersagos.ca/bermuda-police-department-statements/ under the heading “Peter Sagos Physical Description from Crown Witness,” reads: “This witness places my height at 5 foot 3. I stand 5 foot 10.” He asserts the described height is inaccurate by roughly seven inches.

These are Peter Sagos’s published allegations. He is the source of every claim in this section. None of these allegations has been adjudicated as fact by a court in any document that Peter Sagos has published on his own websites.

Sources: Bermuda Police Manufactured Evidence; Peter Sagos Personal Notes (petersagos.ca).

Records Peter Sagos has published

Peter Sagos has published, on his own websites, a series of documents he says were part of the case file. These include:

  • The Bermuda Police Service physical-description statement.
  • The Bermuda Police Service drug-value statement.
  • The Bermuda Police Service customs entry record.
  • The Plourde written statement and his later video statement transcript.
  • A letter he wrote from Westgate to his Canadian counsel.
  • A family email correspondence with his Canadian counsel.
  • A daily event log he kept during his incarceration.
  • A video published on his own YouTube channel (“Peter Sagos”) on October 3, 2018, titled “Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner on June 22, 2018.” The video records a public statement by Canada’s Chief Justice made on June 22, 2018 — two days after the June 20–21, 2018 Canadian trial in which Michael Edelson was called to the stand — on fundamental and moral values being “seriously attacked by other countries leaders of other countries who pretend to be democratic,” on the rule of law, and on respect for institutions. In the video’s published description, Peter Sagos states: “Gee I can only think of one country in my experience, I could say this could be bermuda, but again this is only my opinion and I can share this with you because in Canada we have freedom of expression and free speech.” and “My trial with edelson was on June 20, 21, 2018. Could Richard be talking about my crazy case, where hearsay is fact. No court transcripts, evidence or proof of a crime being committed in bermuda.”

Source: Peter Sagos Personal Notes (petersagos.ca).

What Peter Sagos says about the public record

Peter Sagos has published, on his own websites, that early press coverage of his arrest and detention has damaged his professional reputation, and that the public record does not reflect what he states is the underlying truth of the matter. He has published his own first-person account as a counter-record.

He has further published that the plea was not a concession of guilt. He states that the trial was postponed four times in a row (May, June, July, then a final date of August 24, 2010), that prison-guard and inmate pressure intensified during the final month, and that he pled on August 19, 2010 under that pressure, with proof he wished to present but could not outlast the final 30 days. He has stated that he was afraid for his life during the final month of the postponement.

Peter Sagos has also published that the public narrative around his case is shaped by the Bermudian press, and that the Bermudian press serves the Bermudian government’s account. He has stated on his own websites: “Bermuda is pumping out about Peter Sagos. This is the definition of FAKE NEWS. All this misinformation was and is sponsored by this corrupt country.” He has published a dedicated page on what he describes as government-sponsored misinformation about him, and he characterises the press coverage as part of the case against him rather than neutral reporting of it.

Peter Sagos frames the whole case as a matter that began in a British jurisdiction and extended into Canada. The structure is public record: Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory; its final court of appeal is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, England; and the island’s Governor — the office that appointed Shade Subair Williams as Supreme Court Registrar in 2016 — is appointed by the British Crown. His position is that his case operated as an exercise of that jurisdiction from Bermuda into Canada — the 2009 arrest and proceedings on the island, then the 2016 civil actions and 2018 proceedings against him in Canada — and that the effect, in his account, was the removal of his rights as a Canadian citizen in both jurisdictions.

Peter Sagos has published that his Canadian trial — in which Michael Edelson was called to the stand — took place on June 20 and 21, 2018, and that his counsel of record at the time, Ian McLean, did not place the Bermuda disclosure into evidence at that trial. (McLean’s subsequent Law Society Tribunal decision dated October 28, 2019 established findings including failure to serve Peter in two civil matters and the withdrawal of $45,725 or more in trust funds; his licence surrender took effect December 31, 2019.) He links the timing to the Chief Justice’s public statement of June 22, 2018 — the day after his trial ended — reproduced on his own channel, characterising it in his own description as potentially relevant to his case while stating in his own words that “this is only my opinion.”

Source: Current Propaganda Against Peter Sagos; Ian McLean, a LSUC/LSO Lawyer; Michael Edelson Ottawa Criminal Lawyer (petersagos.ca).

Sources

Every fact in this statement is sourced to a page on a domain Peter Sagos owns. The full list:

Pages on bermudavacation.info and shadesubair.com carry supporting detail and are linked from the in-body text above.

This is a summary statement authored by Peter Sagos and published on his own websites. It contains his allegations and his account. It does not contain any third-party reporting, press articles, or external commentary. Every claim in this statement is sourced to a page on a domain Peter Sagos owns.