Canadian Man Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Large Quantities of Cocaine by Tractor Trailer

UTICA, NEW YORK – Guillaume Latour-Laitre, age 26, of Prevost, Quebec, pled guilty yesterday to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. 

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), made the announcement.

Latour-Laitre admitted that from November 2019 through December 7, 2019, as vice president of a commercial trucking company in Quebec, he trafficked cocaine from the United States to Canada via tractor trailer.  On December 7, 2019, Latour-Laitre’s co-conspirator and employee at the trucking company, Jason Nelson, attempted to leave the United States for Canada at the Derby Line, Vermont Port of Entry.  At the border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers performed an outbound inspection on Nelson’s tractor trailer and discovered approximately 142 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a secret compartment in the trailer.  Latour-Laitre was extradited from Canada in December 2022 to face the charges.

Nelson was sentenced on April 27, 2022, to 72 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release.

At sentencing, scheduled for October 12, 2023, Latour-Laitre faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison, a term of supervised release of between 5 years and life, and a maximum fine of $10 million.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statutes the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

HSI and CBP investigated this case.  Assistant United States Attorney Douglas Collyer is prosecuting the case.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Latour-Laitre.