Unsealed documents reveal sting operation meant to take down Const. Trent Milan

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This article was published 18/01/2017 (3197 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Free Press exclusive.

Winnipeg police took down one of their own using an elaborate undercover sting operation – dubbed an “integrity test” – that confirmed suspicions he was at the centre of years of criminal activity involving stolen drugs, weapons and property.

The Free Press has successfully fought for access to court documents filed last fall as part of the probe against Const. Trent Milan. The 18-year veteran was arrested on Sept. 13 and charged with 36 offences – only to die weeks later when his vehicle drove into the path of a gravel truck in a suspected suicide.

A 43-page information to obtain a search warrant (ITO) has been redacted in parts by justice officials to protect the identities of key sources of information against Milan. That includes two fellow Winnipeg police officers who brought their concerns about Milan to light and a confidential informant Milan had worked with during his career.

Milan’s criminal charges included breach of trust, attempting to obstruct justice, theft, possession of cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, oxycodone and marijuana and possession of prohibited weapons including ammunition, three knives, bear spray, an eight ball and brass knuckles. They were for offences that dated back as far as 2010.

The ITO, obtained Tuesday, reveals new details about how members of the professional standards unit built their case against Milan.

The lead investigator, Det. Ravi Misir, wrote in the document how a police officer came forward around February 2016 with troubling information he had received from an informant who had previous dealings with Milan.

A second officer emerged weeks later with similar information that “corroborated some allegations” against Milan, said Misir.

The officer, whose name is blacked out in the ITO, mentioned a September 2011 conversation with Milan at his Oakbank-area home. The officer told investigators Milan showed him things in his garage – the specifics are redacted – and told him “not to tell anyone.” He would stay silent about this for nearly four years.

Misir summarized the allegations against Milan, saying he was being accused of selling drugs and property he’d obtained through his police work and then pocketing the majority of the proceeds.

But the trick was confirming the allegations to the point of building a strong enough case that would hold up in court.

That’s where the so-called integrity test came into play.

Last summer, police obtained a 2009 red Jeep Compass from Manitoba Public Insurance that was a salvage write-off. They had an officer pose under the fake name of “Denis Berard” and register the vehicle – which was then secretly wired with audio and video, according to the ITO.

Investigators then obtained items from their evidence control unit to scatter inside the Jeep in an attempt to make it look like they came from a break-and-enter. These included electronics and jewelry. Police also placed a backpack in the vehicle which contained $300 cash inside a plastic bag along with drug paraphernalia such as score sheets and a scale.

The Jeep was then reported stolen by “Berard” – in reality an officer posing as the fictional character — and placed in the area of Wyper Road and Loudoun Road on Aug. 11, a day when Milan was on general patrol in the area.

Members of the communications centre were instructed to assign Milan and his partner to the “anonymous” call reporting the vehicle found.

Milan attended the scene and ultimately filed a report in which he documented every single piece of property inside the Jeep – with the exception of the $300 cash. There was no record of it being logged, and police say it vanished after Milan came into contact with it.

According to the ITO, the only explanation was that Milan must have pocketed it. Surveillance that followed the chain-of-command provides no other reasonable possibility.

Investigators then obtained a so-called “sneak and peek” warrant that allowed them to search Milan’s locker at work with the belief the missing money may be inside.

And while they didn’t find the cash, they did locate a black zippered case that contained nine grams of cocaine and four grams of methamphetamine with a street value of $850.

Investigators seized the drugs to conduct forensic testing and replaced the cocaine and meth with realistic-looking fake drugs inside the locker, according to the ITO.

Milan then called in sick to work on Aug. 17, just 30 minutes before his shift was to begin. Police were conducting ongoing surveillance which included a GPS tracker on Milan’s vehicle and reported that he was at the airport about to board a flight to Oregon. No further details about his trip are provided in the ITO.

The search warrant was granted on Sept. 13 and executed later that day. Police seized numerous items from Milan’s home, including drugs and weapons.

There is also reference in the ITO to a May 2010 raid that Milan had been involved in, where a man was charged with possessing 13 ounces of crack cocaine. Milan was the seizing officer on the case, which ultimately resulted in the accused pleading guilty.

Specific details about this case – including the accused’s name, his ultimate sentence and his address – have been blacked out.

“(Redacted name) claims he witnessed, with his own eyes, the officer planting the drugs,” Misir wrote in the ITO. A necklace owned by the accused also vanished during the search.

Late last year, a Beausejour-area man pleaded guilty to pawning stolen police evidence for a gold-selling scheme with Milan. The 30-year-old admitted to selling two necklaces he knew Milan had stolen.

In total, Milan’s friend pocketed $3,500 for the two necklaces, which he pawned for more than $5,000 each.

One necklace had been seized from a suspected drug dealer at the Marlborough Hotel in March 2010 only to go missing from a locked drawer accessible only by certain police members, including Milan. It couldn’t be returned when the charges against the accused were stayed. It had a gold pendant with a diamond-studded dollar sign.

The accused later sued the City of Winnipeg over his stolen property. In a civil claim settled in 2013, the city paid the man $33,000. The second necklace came from the May 2010 search mentioned in the ITO.

The man with the necklaces met Milan in 2003 when the officer had to notify next of kin about the suicide of the man’s twin brother, who was 16. The man had found the body. He went into a "downward spiral," and he started using drugs – everything from marijuana to cocaine to pills and opioids, court was told.

"While Mr. Milan was initially a source of strength and support for him, the dynamic of the relationship changed over time," defence lawyer Ted Mariash said during the sentencing hearing last November.

Milan fed the man’s drug addiction and began "grooming him to exploit him," Mariash said, adding Milan would threaten to report the man’s drug use and have him arrested.

Misir summarized the findings against Milan near the end of the ITO.

“I believe it is reasonable that Trent Milan has inappropriately and, at times, unlawfully used his informant/handler relationship with (redacted) in connection with the duties of his office for a purpose other than public good which marks a serious departure from the standard of an officer with the Winnipeg Police Service,” Misir wrote.

He also hinted at future trouble that might occur with other cases Milan has been involved with.

“Trent Milan has compromised informer privilege by engaging and involving his source in criminal activity that has caused police to investigate and identify the source for future potential court proceedings,” Misir said.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca