Crown to Seek 17-year Sentence for Quebec Man Convicted in Kidnapping of US Couple

Sandra Helm walks in the hallway at the Montreal courthouse in Montreal on Jan. 18, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sidhartha Banerjee

A sentencing hearing is underway for a Quebec man found guilty in the 2020 kidnapping of a couple from Upstate New York.

The Crown is seeking a 17-year sentence for Gary Arnold, who was found guilty by a jury in February of five charges, including kidnapping, extortion and conspiracy to kidnap.

Arnold is facing sentencing for being part of a plot to abduct James and Sandra Helm of Moira, N.Y., in connection with what the Crown says was a botched drug deal involving their grandson.

The defence is seeking 10 years in prison for Arnold, who argued during his trial that he had acted under threats and did not know anything about a kidnap plot.

The Crown says the couple in their 70s were kidnapped as leverage by a group of men who wanted to recover 50 kilograms of cocaine or $3.5 million cash after their grandson had been arrested in Vermont six days earlier with the drugs.

The Helms were taken from their home, smuggled into Canada and held at a cottage in Magog, Que., for two days before they were rescued unharmed by a Quebec provincial police tactical unit on Sept. 29, 2020.