A key figure in a trucker protest that jammed Canada’s capital and sparked a global movement against Covid mandates was spared more jail time at sentencing Wednesday.
Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland ordered Pat King to serve three months of house arrest, after he had already spent several months in pre-trial detention.
According to public broadcaster CBC, the judge said King had helped bring the capital “to a standstill” in early 2022.
Outside the courtroom, King’s lawyer Natasha Calvinho, with an elated King and his supporters at her side, called the sentence “balanced.”
“We’re happy to have it come to a conclusion,” she added.
King was found guilty in November of five criminal charges for his role in the blockade, including counselling others to obstruct police and disobeying a court order.
Prosecutors had sought the maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars.
The self-styled “Freedom Convoy” of big rig drivers and protesters rolled into Ottawa in early 2022 from across Canada to express anger at government protocols imposed to contain Covid.
After three weeks of turmoil, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked rarely used emergency powers to dislodge the protesters.
King was among hundreds of people arrested, and the first of the protest leaders to be convicted. Two other organizers, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, faced a separate criminal trial but those verdicts are not expected until later this year.z
