Marianne White

A jury yesterday found former Olympic gold medallist Myriam Bédard guilty of violating a child-custody agreement with her former husband.

Bédard stared directly at the jury and drummed her fingers on the table when the verdict was delivered. Other than that, she showed no emotion as the judge asked the defence lawyer and crown prosecutor if they were ready to make sentencing arguments. After a short recess, Bédard came back to court with red eyes and flushed cheeks.

Defence lawyer John Pepper Jr. asked for a delay and Justice Jean-Claude Beaulieu agreed and set Oct. 9 for a sentencing hearing.

Pepper told Beaulieu he will seek an unconditional discharge for Bédard. The crown has signalled it will contest that. Prosecutor Josée Lemieux has not said what sentence she will seek, but said she will take into consideration that Bédard - who is out on bail - had spent 14 days in jail.

Bédard faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, but precedents in similar cases range from six months to two years.

Pepper said Bédard had no comment to make on the verdict.

Bédard smiled as she left the courthouse and even waved at people on the street. Her companion, Nima Mazhari, was present for the verdict, but left soon after.

Lemieux was pleased with the conviction.

"The verdict reflects the evidence that was presented to the jury and we are very happy with it," she said. "It's hard to say what might have influenced the jury, but it could be the strength of the evidence. We were able to prove that Myriam Bédard left the country with the intent to deprive the father from (seeing) his daughter." The six-man, six-woman jury produced a verdict on its third day of deliberations.

Bédard, her daughter and common-law spouse Nima Mazhari travelled to the U.S. last Oct. 2 to protest what they called "bureaucratic terrorism" by Canadian authorities. Bédard had testified at the Gomery commission into the sponsorship scandal and claimed the government was harassing her and Mazhari.

Her former husband, Jean Paquet, lodged a complaint with Quebec City police last November when he thought he would never see his daughter again.

Bédard was arrested in the U.S. after a warrant was issued last December.

In his testimony, Paquet said Bédard, 37, was trying to take his daughter away from him and that he only got to see her when her mother said so.

Bédard told the court she would have put her daughter, 11 at the time, on the next plane to Quebec to see her father if he had asked to see her.

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