Mint employee who hid stolen gold in his rectum gets 30 months behind bar
OTTAWA — A man who stole gold “pucks” from the Royal Canadian Mint by hiding them in his rectum to evade metal detectors has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Leston Lawrence, 35, was convicted of theft in November by Ontario Court judge Peter Doody, who noted in his ruling the case was based on circumstantial evidence.
The judge said a penitentiary term was needed to deter others; Lawrence’s lawyer had argued for an 18-month sentence.
“While he was certainly in a position of trust which he breached, he was not a senior managerial official,” Doody ruled. “So, this is a blue-collar theft, not a white-collar theft.”