‘Truly an accident’: judge fines sobbing woman $5K for cannabis candy in Halloween bags

A Tuxedo woman told a Manitoba judge she “inadvertently” dished out cannabis-laced candies to trick-or-treaters on Halloween because she wasn’t wearing her glasses.

“I don’t want or expect forgiveness and I’m not going to make excuses for what happened,” a sobbing Tammy Sigurdur told provincial court Judge Ray Wyant Monday. “I should have been more careful, I should have worn my glasses, I shouldn’t have been rushing around trying to find more candy.”

Sigurdur, 54, had pleaded guilty to one charge each of supplying cannabis to a young person and possessing cannabis that is not packed, labelled and stamped, offences under the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act.

Sigurdur and her husband, Sheldon Chochinov, 64, were arrested Nov. 1, 2022, one day after police received complaints from several parents who said that among the items their children returned home with on Halloween night, were bags of Nerds Rope candies that had 600 milligrams of THC — or tetrahydrocannabinol — the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

Police recovered 12 packages of the THC-laden candy. No child was injured or believed to have ingested any of the candy.

Charges against Chochinov were stayed last November.

On Monday, lawyers for the Crown and defence jointly recommended Sigurdur be fined $5,000. Wyant accepted the recommended sentence and called it “fit and appropriate” in the circumstances.

“I appreciate the fact this was inadvertent. I have no reason to doubt that whatsoever,” Wyant told Sigurdur.

“If anything good comes of this hearing, maybe people listening to the story will say: ‘I need to take more care, because I am responsible for what I do in my home… and what I hand out at Halloween,’” Wyant said.

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An agreed statement of facts read out in court says Sigurdur was in possession of both genuine Nerds candies and several packages of a THC-laden knockoff, but failed to keep them in a separate and secure location.

The knockoff candies are not legally available in Canada as they contain THC amounts in excess of what is allowed for edible cannabis products and because their packaging mimics that of children’s candy products, Crown attorney Terry McComb told court.

On Halloween night, 2022, Sigurdur “ran out of candy… and in a rush grabbed gum and other candies from a room in their house that contained the candies,” McComb said, reading from the agreed statement of facts.

“In doing so, she grabbed the bag that contained the THC-laden fake Nerds. The accused was not wearing her glasses at the time. She packaged up these items into Ziploc bags and gave them to her husband, who unwittingly handed them out at the door to trick-or treaters.”

The next day, Sigurdur became aware of the police media release that notified parents about the drug candy complaints as well as pictures circulating on social media showing what looked like the candy packages she had given her husband.

“(Sigurdur) ran out of candy… and in a rush grabbed gum and other candies from a room in their house that contained the candies.”–Crown attorney Terry

Chochinov contacted police and the two provided “full and comprehensive statements,” McComb said.

Sigurdur “immediately attempt(ed) to identify what transpired… and described extensive detail about the house and location of items,” after which police searched the home, McComb said.

“Her evidence to police in her statement is mirrored by what they (found),” McComb said.

Sigurdur expresed “profound remorse” to police, McComb said.

“Her co-operation with police has certainly influenced the Crown’s position on the case,” she said. “She saw this as a serious incident immediately. She was very concerned about the risk and she was very proactive in giving information as she could to police.”

Defence lawyer Saul Simmonds said Sigurdur was hospitalized and underwent therapy as a result of the incident, which has caused “irreparable damage to her psyche.”

“She has tortured herself from the moment this occurred,” Simmonds said.

“It was truly an accident. At no time did I want to hurt anybody, especially children.”–Tammy Sigurdur

Sigurdur told court she was “beyond grateful” no one was hurt by her actions.

“It was truly an accident,” Sigurdur said. “At no time did I want to hurt anybody, especially children.”

Wyant said Sigurdur wouldn’t be in court if the knock-off candies hadn’t been purchased in the first place.

“It was in the act of obtaining these products that caused a chain reaction that would never have happened,” he said.

Parent Kim Wlodarczyk was disappointed in the punishment, which she says doesn’t reflect the seriousness of the crime.

“If a kid took that, that could cause serious damage,” she told the Free Press.

Wlodarczyk’s 12-year-old son and three friends received the packages, she said.

The mother of two is skeptical of Sigurdur’s explanation that it was a mix-up.

“It just seems weird, everything they said in terms of why it happened,” Wlodarczyk said.

She said she wishes the families had been consulted.

— with files from Nicole Buffie

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Someone once said a journalist is just a reporter in a good suit. Dean Pritchard doesn’t own a good suit. But he knows a good lawsuit.

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