A Sticky Situation: The Great Maple Syrup Heist

In 2012, one of the largest thefts in Canadian history didn’t involve gold, diamonds, or priceless art. Instead, thieves pulled off a crime so unusual it sounds almost unbelievable. They stole millions of dollars worth of maple syrup.

In this episode, we dive into the story of the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, when criminals managed to steal nearly $18 million worth of syrup from a warehouse that was part of Quebec’s strategic maple syrup reserve.

Join us as we discuss our favorite breakfast foods and break down the details of this sweet crime, the investigation that followed, and the surprising lessons behind Canada’s most infamous heist.

References:

“Maple Syrup Industry” The Canadian Encyclopedia (2006)

“Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist The Canadian Encyclopedia (2022)

“Canadian Maple Syrup Heist: A $30 Million Theft Unveiled” Maple Terroir (2024)

“With burner phones and $200k in hidden cash, plot to steal maple syrup had look of a major drug deal” National Post (2016)

“The Great Maple Syrup Heist: How a Ragtag Group of Thieves in Canada Stole $18 Million Worth of Maple Syrup” All That Is Interesting (2025)

“Richard Vallieres Was Behind the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist– Where Is He Now?” Districtify (2024)

“How Maple Syrup Thieves in Canada Once Made History With A Theft Worth Millions of Dollars” NDTV Food (2025)

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If I asked you what the most valuable thing you could steal was, you might say gold or diamonds or cash. But in Quebec, Canada, the most valuable thing you could steal might surprise you. Because in 2012, thieves pulled off one of the largest heists in Canadian history. They didn't steal money, they didn't steal electronics, they stole maple syrup. Not a few bottles, not a few crates. Over 9,000 barrels worth nearly$18 million. Which raises a lot of questions. Like, how do you even steal that much maple syrup? Where do you sell it? And how did nobody notice for almost a year? Today on True Crime Teacher Time, we're talking about the great maple syrup heist. I'm McKenna. And you're listening to True Crime Teacher Time.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Hello, hello.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Hi, how's it going?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

It's going great.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

I've never been better.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

We're at Tori's house today.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

We are. Because this past week has been crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

We thought last week was the week from heck.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

We stayed until seven on Thursday for parent teacher conferences.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

And that in itself was wild.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

I was supposed to have two 30-minute breaks. Yeah. Just between conferences. I didn't have one, a one-minute break.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

I somehow ended up behind. And then it just didn't happen.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

I had five parents sign up, which really would have left me with about an hour and a half of working in my classroom. I got no working done in my classroom because people just kept showing up. And which is great, don't get me wrong. But I need to be on a schedule. And like I would have parents in there during time that I was supposed to be talking to a parent who did schedule.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

It just made it rough.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

I only had about six sign up until Wednesday. And then Thursday I had a bunch sign up last minute because I sent a message out saying, hey, if you want a conference, let me know.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

And then I had one show up unannounced.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

I think I had four show up unannounced.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Yeah. What happened to scheduling? I'm thinking a lot of mine maybe didn't get the conference form.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

I mean, I sent them home with all of my kids. Right. There's only one that I know didn't make it home because he just tells his mom that he doesn't need his book bag. And she told me this during the conference. But so that one, and but she messaged me and I was able to get a time, so that's fine. But I had technical difficulties and all that. Yeah. My computer decides to just shut down and need to charge when it's not dying.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

And that happened. And where do I get the phone numbers from? The computer on PowerSchool.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

So that I had to wait for it to kick back on, and it takes a while once it decides to just shut down. And it's not on low battery.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

It's at like 30%. And sometimes it'll just be like, I'm tired.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

You know what? I feel that though.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

I do too, but that was not the time to do it. I was tired too. It was like six o'clock.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Yeah. What a day. What a week. And now we're back to the Sunday scaries.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Oh, I know. And that storm tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Oh. Yeah, that storm. We can't decide if we're gonna have to cancel school. Loki really don't want us to, though.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

I think the morning will probably be fine.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

I think the afternoon might be an issue with those winds and buses and the threat of tornadoes because you're saying the worst of it is gonna be like early afternoon.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

This has given me PTSD to like side adjacent. Like I'm scared they're gonna say that kids are gonna have to stay for longer because we're not gonna be able to put them on the buses, and we're gonna have to wait till parents come and get them. And all I can think about is last year when there was something happening outside the school and we had to keep those kids for an hour longer. And I about lost my mind then.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Yep, and then my last one left. And I remember I went up front and then I got all of the kids from a different school that had been bussed to us and couldn't leave.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

In the gym. And I was monitoring them and taking them to the bathroom because one kid went, I'd take them, I'd get back, and they saw that a kid went to the bathroom and they would have to go. It was a whole thing. But we just made up a day on Friday that was supposed to be a half day for teachers, and we weren't supposed to have kids.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Which would have been so nice.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Yes, to get things done, even though I feel like we would have been in professional development anyway. But we ended up making it up in person all day with kids. So I'm worried that that's gonna happen again.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Yeah, but we have to get a certain amount of PD days, and I really need them not to take any more of our time.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

I just don't want to make it up for spring break.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

You're kind of loud today, dude.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

That's my orange cat.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Comes with the terror toys.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

He's orange. He only decides to be orange though when you're doing something important.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Fair.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

He's wild.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

You probably heard Oliver's bell. So just shout out Ollie.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

So if you hear a bell, it's probably him because my other cat's pretty chill. So our icebreaker today is what is your favorite breakfast food?

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Waffles.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

That's a close second for me.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

No, please tell me yours is not pancakes.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

It's not. I'm not a huge fan of pancakes. I love French toast.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Especially when it's done up with like fruits and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

I need Justin to make you, he made French toast, but put cream cheese inside of it and then blueberries and syrup on top, and it was divine.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Oh my gosh, that sounds so good.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

I don't know. Waffles, they just I have always loved waffles.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

That's probably a second. Like when I was thinking of my icebreaker, my first thought was waffles, and then I was like, no French toast. And I made this French toast bake for Christmas morning. It was so good. I made it the night before, stuck it in the fridge, and then the next morning I just had to put it in the oven.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Oh, that's perfect.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

While we opened gifts, it was so good.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

No.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

But yeah, French toast.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

So if you couldn't tell by the intro or the title, we're talking about the great maple syrup heist.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Which is crazy.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

It it is crazy. And first, we're gonna talk about the economics behind maple syrup in Canada first. So that you understand why.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

It was a big deal and important. So about 75% of the world's maple syrup is produced in Canada. 90% of what's produced in Canada is produced in Quebec in Canada.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

So in 2020, Canada exported over 61 kilograms of maple syrup, which had a value of$515 million.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

It's a huge part of their economy.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

No, just a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Yeah, just a tiny bit.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

And the US is their number one export market. The majority of it is sold to us. We love it on our breakfast. And I think Canada's kind of known for their maple syrup. When I think of Canada, I think of maple syrup. The maple leaf is on their flag.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

For those who don't know, maple syrup and maple products are made by boiling down the sap of maple trees. I I didn't I knew it.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

But didn't know it.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

I didn't I'd never really thought about it, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

It was actually I never really thought about where syrup came from. Like I knew, but I also don't think about it regularly. Like I don't think go, oh, this is from a tree being bolt down.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

Right. I didn't either. And so I, you know, had to look into it.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

It was actually a happy accident that it was discovered by indigenous peoples. They called it sugaring off and would cut a V-shape into the trees to collect the sap. Which I didn't know that either. And the majority of it is produced in Canada, mainly Quebec, because the weather conditions are best for production of maple syrup.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

In 1966, the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, or QMSP, which is what I will call it from now on. Throughout the episode, was established. They managed the production of maple syrup in Quebec by regulating production quotas, pricing, and exports. Some people refer to them as the maple syrup cartel. Yeah. Yep. I found multiple sources that called them that. Yeah. What? Yep. And each year the production of maple syrup is a little bit different because it really depends on weather conditions. So one year they might have a surplus where they make so much. And then the next year, if the weather isn't great, they might not make as much. And then it's harder because they can't um meet the demands.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

So to solve this issue, they started storing the surplus of maple syrup in two large warehouses in 2000. This allows them to have a reserve of it for years that they aren't able to produce as much due to the weather.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

And they call this the strategic maple syrup reserve.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

That sounds so serious for just a little bit of like just for syrup.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

But to them it's not just syrup, it's money. Yeah. These warehouses have thousands of metal barrels stacked high. Each of them weighs about 600 pounds when they're full.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Yo.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

And they contain tens of millions of pounds of syrup. So, in other words, someone had built a vault filled with maple syrup. Yeah. Essentially. And today we're going to be talking about a warehouse in a small in the small town of St. Louis de Blanford, Quebec.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

The QMSP rented this facility in 2010 to store an overflow of maple syrup because they were running out of room in the two major warehouses because it had been a good year. It's a huge storage facility with thousands of blue or white barrels stacked in rows. There was limited security, though I'm sure they probably learned their lesson. The inventory was only checked once a year, and a lot of the barrels looked identical. So really, this meant that someone could remove the barrels for months without detection. And someone realized that.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Which is wild.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

How could someone just go, you know what? I'm gonna steal syrup today. Of that. Of syrup.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

It's more than that, really. When you find out how this went on, it's really crazy. And how maple syrup is almost looked at like a drug almost.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Not in the sense that of like what it does to you, but like in the same concept of how people spend it and move it and whatnot. Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Yes. So there was a man named Avik Caron, and he saw an opportunity. His wife co-owned the facility that was being rented out by the QSMP. And he knew a man named Richard Valeris. Yeah, I knew Oliver said, who's that? Valeris was known among the maple syrup community, which is a crazy community to be known for, of, as to be a part of. He was known as a maple syrup dealer. Yep. He had been buying and selling maple syrup on the black market for a decade prior to this. Do you see what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Yeah. In 2007, he had actually been fined$1.7 million for this, which resulted in his house being seized to pay his debts.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

And he said that after that happened, part of his motivation to convin to continue doing it was revenge.

unknown 15:07

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Yep. So the two of them had to recruit other people to help make this plan work because large. They have to steal a lot of it, probably.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

So they were able to recruit some drivers and distributors to assist with their plan. They planned to gain access to the warehouse, which was fairly easy with little security, and Karan's wife being one of the owners.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

And they rented another section of the facility where the warehouse was to also help them gain easy access. Because it wasn't just the warehouse, it was like a whole facility with different um industries working in it. So they would go to the warehouse, steal some barrels, and put them on a tractor trailer to bring to a secondary location. There, they would siphon the maple syrup into their own containers and refill the barrels that they stole from the warehouse with water. After that, they would replace the barrels without anyone ever noticing. There, then they would boil the syrup they stole to prevent fermentation, put them in clean barrels, and transport them to New Brunswick and Vermont to prepare for sale.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

This is insane.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

And a lot. Like they're having to do so much just to prepare.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Yeah. And they got burner phones to communicate with buyers in the US, Ontario, and New Brunswick. Because of course, to profit from their plan, they needed to sell the maple syrup. Yeah. I mean, what do you just do with that much maple syrup if you can't sell it? Breakfast for centuries.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Forever.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

So in October 2011, they executed their plan. And it worked. And what do you do when a plan like that works?

SPEAKER_01 17:07

You do it again.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

You keep doing it because they did. They continued doing it for months. For almost a year, really. They stole 2,700 tons of maple syrup throughout this period. That's about 5.4 million pounds. Oh my gosh. And the amount of syrup that they stole was worth about$30 million.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

Oh, just a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Just a tiny bit. Though they did take a break in March of 2012 because they wanted to vacation in Cancun with some of the money they made. There's actually a picture that was shown to the jury at the trial.

SPEAKER_02 17:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

Of them partying in Cancun. And this picture ended up on a vintage beer bottle.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

What?

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

That's insane.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Yep. So in August 2012, they now they had been doing this since October 2011. So this went on until August. The QS QMSP was doing their routine inspection because remember I said it was they took inventory yearly and inspected and all that. So they were doing that in that warehouse in St. Louis Diplanford. And Inspector Michael Gavreau was climbing up a stack of the barrels, and one about toppled over. Yeah. And this was strange because normally one of these barrels would weigh almost 600 pounds. So it shouldn't have almost fallen over. I actually did see one where that it did fall over. And I saw one source say that it almost did. So I don't know. So but Inspector Gavreau looked inside because he was like, why is this so light? And he found that the barrel was empty. With that one being empty, he started looking into more barrels.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

I thought you said they were filling them with water.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

I'll get there. I'll get there. He started to look inside more of them and found more of them empty, water in some. Because remember, I said they were filling them with water. But it seems like they had gotten really comfortable with their plan working for so long that they kind of started being careless. Yeah. So he found some empty, some filled with water, and some of them were dirty, which was highly unusual because the warehouse was known to be really clean.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

The maple syrup wasn't contaminated. Um, which is good because people are ingesting it, but they're finding that it's dirty.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Which is scary.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

So then they asked the question why are some of these empty? So they did all their inventory and found that a lot of maple syrup was gone. So the inspector, Michael Gavreau, called Quebec's police force and they began to investigate. They were able to determine that it was definitely an inside job, but they didn't know exactly what was going on or who the masterminds were. They used fluorescent fingerprinting to collect fingerprints from the barrels. I guess they weren't smart enough to use gloves, but to each their own.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

They also interviewed over 200 people and executed 40 search warrants of just different places that they film felt might be connected. Yeah. Trying to find the missing syrup. And they were able to track down some of the syrup, but they had to work with the US to do this because a lot of it had been sold to the US and exported.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Oh, so now we're working together.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Yep. They eventually discovered that part of the facility had been rented by whoever did this. And all of this led to the arrest of 16 people, including Richard Valeras, who they discovered to be the mastermind behind everything. Shocker.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Sixteen?

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Sixteen people were arrested.

SPEAKER_01 21:59

So that's including. Drivers, the people that are helping move.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

Caran, the man whose wife. Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

However, with the arrest of 16 people, only five of them were ever convicted in relation to it. I guess that they had the evidence strong enough for them. Strong enough to convict them.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Don't you?

SPEAKER_00 22:25

So I'm gonna talk about who all of them are.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

So Avik Caron, the man whose wife owned a portion of the warehouse, was sentenced to five years and ordered to pay a fine of 1.2 million. Sebastian Jutras was a truck driver who knowingly transported the syrup. He served eight months in prison.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

Etienne Saint-Pierre was a syrup reseller from New Brunswick who participated in the scheme. He was sentenced to two years of jail time and three years of probation.

SPEAKER_01 23:07

Okay. I feel like these are kind of low.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

I mean I guess not, because it's not like it wasn't dangerous.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

We haven't gotten to Richard yet.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Because he was really the mastermind and everyone else was more of an accomplice, I think.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

And I also think Canada's justice system is a little bit different than ours.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

Like a lot of, and I don't I don't know if Canada's one of them, but a lot of countries really don't even do life sentences sometimes, even for violent crimes. Then we have Raymond Valeris, who is Richard's dad. He was charged with possessing the stolen syrup with the intent to traffic it.

SPEAKER_03 24:01

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

He was also sentenced to two years in jail and then three years of probation. I also want to include a quote by him that I found interesting.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

His dad?

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Yeah. He said stealing from thieves is not stealing. I don't know what he meant by that. Did he steal the syrup from his son? Or is he accusing the QMSP of stealing syrup?

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

I don't know because I found that a lot of people um don't fully agree with the QSMP. QMSP. Really? Because they think that they like overwork their people, and I think smaller farmers have to go through them.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

And probably get ripped off.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

Right. So I don't exactly know. I don't know. But I thought it was funny because I didn't know what he meant. So if he stole the syrup from his son, I just think that would be really funny. Yeah. But I don't know. There wasn't really any context to it, but I just thought it was interesting. Lastly, we have our ringleader, Richard Valeris. He was convicted in April 2017 and sentenced to eight years in prison.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

That sounds more bad.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

He received a$9.4 million fine.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Oh yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

9.4 million. If he thought 1.7 was a lot. If the fine wasn't paid within 10 years, though, his sentence would increase to 14 years. Oh. So six extra years if he didn't pay it within 10. He tried to appeal the fine, and the court actually reduced ruled to reduce it to 1 million because that was the money that he actually made from the sale of everything. Right. And they did rule it, but that ruling was overturned by Parliament. And they said, and this is a quote, distinguishing between an offender's income and expenses in order to determine the offender's profit margin would essentially amount to legitimate legitimating criminal activity. Do you agree with that?

SPEAKER_01 26:32

So the way I'm taking it is they're saying that even though he didn't make that much off of the crime, he still had to pay more than that because of his like because of the damage that had been done.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

And that's what he stole, essentially.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

And that's they're no they don't they don't have that product. Right. So the only way they can get it back is by paying. I agree.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

I agree with that too. I mean, if that's how much he cost them.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

I mean, you didn't a huge country's economy.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

So I do, but I thought that was interesting. His actions resulted in a lot of loss for the Canadian economy, as only about 25% of the syrup was recovered. And it was determined that most of what they recovered wasn't safe for human consumption. Oh. So it was destroyed. Nothing. Of what he stole, yes.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Right. Out of all that he had, they got nothing back of it.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Yeah. And the heist had an impact on the economy because Canada had to lower maple syrup prices to compete with the black market syrup that was being sold.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

A lot of it they were able to kind of mix and get it in legally to so that it wasn't really a legal syrup, if that makes sense. And get it into the legal, but they had to do it carefully as to not be detected.

SPEAKER_01 28:03

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

And I also saw that around 60% of the reserves maple syrup was stolen, but I can't confirm the source. I'm kind of thinking that maybe 60% of that warehouse's maple syrup was stolen.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

Because if you think about there being two really big warehouses. But that's what a source said. But I'm thinking it was more of that facilities.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

Yeah. Just that area.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Yeah. So Mr. Richard, our mastermind here, I guess, spent his time in a maximum security penitentiary called Archambald Institution. He was granted day parole in 2022 after two attempts. So this was his third attempt. I think this is a Canadian thing because I don't think that's a thing here.

SPEAKER_01 28:54

No, I don't think so.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

But I've heard about it before. Like essentially, they can sometimes leave, I guess, during the day and come back at night. He was released last year for his eight. I mean, he did serve his eight years. I can't find anything about if he has paid back any part of his fines yet. So I don't think he has.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

They're gonna come pick him back up.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

But his sentencing was in 2017. I would think that the 10 years would start there.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

So that would be next year, 2027. Wow. I do wonder though, if he was in prison for eight out of the 10 years, how would he supposed to make that money? 9.4 million.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

Yeah. That's what I think it's a gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

I think that's what it is.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Because there's I there's no way. I mean, sure, a lot of prisons let you work while you're there, but you don't make anything.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

No.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

So you would definitely wouldn't make that. Oh but I don't think I don't think that would surprise me.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

But maybe he's banking on his dad. Or somebody else to want to bail him, get him the money.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

I don't know. I tried to find out how he was doing with that, but I couldn't find anything. Um but he does say that the time he served made him rethink how he was living his life.

SPEAKER_02 30:29

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

He said that during his time at Archambald Institution, he saw a guy get killed in an argument over a pear. Like the fruit.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

A pear.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

Yeah, he said that that. And that changed him. Yes, that changed him. He wants to be a good person now. I guess. He said he feels remorseful for all of this and that it was motivated by greed and revenge.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

I'm so glad you discovered that.

SPEAKER_00 30:58

It's a little late, Richard.

SPEAKER_01 31:01

I just want to know if he actually changed.

SPEAKER_00 31:06

For sure. Or is he still just saying these things and working for the black market and distributing syrup? I'm curious too. So I'm gonna give you just a few fun facts. Okay. Just about the this in popular culture. The documentary series on Netflix called Dirty Money features an episode on this in season one. Ooh. And a fictional show loosely based on the case is on Amazon called The Sticky. It premiered in 2003. It's loosely based because the characters are fictional. It's not about him. But the writer got the idea for the show after hearing about this case. Yeah. And it's a comedy known for its dark humor about, and it's about a maple syrup farmer who decides to execute a major heist.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

It only ran for one season before being canceled, but it sounds like it was pretty funny. Yeah. You kind of want to watch it.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

You said it's on Amazon?

SPEAKER_00 32:16

Yes. And it's called The Sticky. The Sticky. Yep. So that is the case of the great maple syrup heist.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

That's amazing. That I didn't know was a thing. No. That's insane. When it when you were telling me heist, I was thinking, oh, we're money. And technically this is money, but it's a different form of currency.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

Yeah. And I just I mean, I knew Canada produced like all of our maple syrup. I guess I didn't realize how major.

SPEAKER_01 32:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

I didn't. This was.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

I didn't. It's crazy. But I never always think, like I don't think that far.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

No. No, I'm learning a lot. Yeah. I guess. So now you should be able to explain why Quebec dominates the maple syrup industry.

SPEAKER_02 33:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

Describe how the maple syrup reserve works. Discuss why it's important to have good security where you're storing something valuable to your country's economy. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

With secure really good security.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

And surveillance. I mean, this was in 2012. 2011, 2012. And explain how someone managed to steal millions of dollars worth of a breakfast topping. Can you do all that now?

SPEAKER_01 33:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

Okay, good.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

I do feel kind of like Richard, because sometimes I used to take the syrup containers that they put on the tables from Waffle House.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

My syrup.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Yeah. Yeah. You didn't sell it though on the black market. Oh, I did. That's good. It went in my tummy. That's good. Yeah. So I mean, I guess there's a difference.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

I really needed syrup. It was college. So did Richard.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

Apparently. So our exit ticket. What food item would you choose to steal?$18 million worth of in a heist.

SPEAKER_01 34:50

So I think mine would have to be Tillamook ice cream. If you've never had Tillamook ice cream, it will change your life.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

I don't even know that I've heard of that. It's so good. I don't know what makes it different, but it tastes like. Is it a brand? Yes. Okay. Tillamook is the brand.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Where do you get it?

SPEAKER_01 35:14

Food Lion. Okay. Food Lion. It's so good. And it comes in like a little round container. It's not like a boxy container. It's a round container with a round lid. But it's the best ice cream I've ever, ever eaten. Okay. And they have all these different flavors. What's your favorite one? Probably the brownie one. It's like a double chocolate. It's like a chocolate ice cream with brownie bites in it. And like chocolate chips in it. It's so good. Okay. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

Yeah, I don't think I've heard of it. It's worth a try. I have two because I couldn't choose one. Okay. My first one, and I feel like a lot of people can relate to this one, is Texas Roadhouse Rolls. Oh. Yeah. With the butter. Yep. That that would be one. And my second one is more one that I'm just kind of annoyed by. And it is McDonald's sweet and spicy jam. Because it's so good and it was limited time. And I'm really mad because it's really good. And I'm mad that they don't have it still.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:35

So I would just steal that so that I would have it. Forever. Forever and ever.

SPEAKER_01 36:40

I want to steal the recipe for the shamrock shakes from McDonald's. Yes, those are good.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

That's what I haven't had one of those in over a decade. I know. They're so good though.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

Tis the season. Oh my gosh, St. Patrick's Day is next week. Tuesday. Yeah. Tuesday.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

I'm gonna have to get stuff so that my kids think a leprechaun broken. Yeah. I think I still have green paint though. I still have green paint. But I don't know where the food coloring is because I put green food coloring in the toilet. And then I put leprechaun footprints on their stuff. Like whatever's out. I'll do like little footprints on their work. Like one of them flipped out one year because well, this was last year, because his work was out on the rug, because my kids work on rugs on the floor. And I there was leprechaun footprints on it.

unknown 37:41

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 37:43

I have a feeling.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

Yeah. But so tell us what food you would steal in a heist. Because we're curious. So comment on our Instagram post. Give me new food fixations. Yes. Please. Please. Oh, I don't need any more food fixations. I don't really have one.

SPEAKER_01 38:08

But now you can put them into rotation. Mine right now is French onion dip with chips. Like the lays.

SPEAKER_00 38:16

If McDonald's still had their sweet and spicy jam, that would be that would be it, but they don't. I like anything sweet and spicy, but not a lot of places have sweet and spicy dips. But so let us know on our Instagram post covering the case. And we'll see you next Monday, I guess. Hopefully. Fingers crossed. No, we should. We should. I'm just I'm just saying that. We'll be here. We'll see you next Monday. We will. We'll not see you, but we'll talk to you next Monday. Anyway, thanks for listening to True Crime Teacher Time.

SPEAKER_01 38:53

We'll see you bright and early next Monday morning.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Don't steal any maple syrup before then.