Sentencing complete for trio involved in shooting of opossum

The last of a Brantford trio charged with committing cruelty to animals three years ago has been dealt with in court.

In June 2020, Brant OPP received “numerous” calls about a video that was posted on SnapChat where three people had trapped an opossum, drove with it to a remote area in Burford and shot it multiple times with a gun.

Those who saw the video were outraged and thousands signed an online petition calling for the three to be charged, which they were.

There were also multiple calls for the trio to be jailed for years.

Police located the three – Jade Angelina Martins, 28, Kaius Micheal Fagan, 23, and Romaine Lee, 33, –and each was charged with cruelty to animals, illegally transporting wildlife and causing wildlife unnecessary suffering under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.

Each was also criminally charged with causing unnecessary pain to an opossum.

Lee was also charged with possession of a firearm while prohibited.

The three appeared dozens of times in court over the last three years and occasionally didn’t show up for hearings, causing bench warrants to be issued for their arrests.

In April and May last year, Fagan and Lee pleaded guilty to the criminal charge of causing unnecessary pain.

Lee was given a suspended sentence, a year-long probation and $100 fine, plus he was ordered to make a $300 charitable donation to the Brant SPCA.

Recently, Fagan was given a conditional discharge and a year-long probation but was also given a five-year order against owning or having custody of animals.

He also can’t reside in a home where animals live. His probation order was transferred to the Mississauga area.

In cases where an offender has committed a second or subsequent offence, courts must order a minimum of five years on such an order against owning animals.

Martins, who is also known as Zecca-Martins, pleaded guilty to 15 criminal charges in the fall of 2021, including possession of cocaine and psilocybin for trafficking, possession of fentanyl, impaired and dangerous driving, two counts of driving while disqualified, driving with open cannabis in the vehicle, possession of a radar detector, breach of probation, and three breaches of an undertaking.

Regarding the opossum incident, Martins pleaded guilty to unlawful transportation of wildlife, which the judge called “shocking conduct”.

In the opossum video, Martins was the driver, shown at the wheel explaining a plan to kill the trapped animal.

During her sentencing, Justice Gethin Edward rejected a joint submission for a lesser jail sentence from the Crown and defense and sentenced Martins to 18 months in jail, three consecutive one-year driving prohibitions and fines that total $2,845.

The judge noted Martins had already been given a second chance in Superior Court where, after being found guilty of trying to export fentanyl patches to the US, Martins was granted a two-year-less-a-day sentence that included house arrest so she could maintain her connection with her child.

The three were ordered not to communicate with each other for at least a year.

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