Marianne White

Former Olympic gold medallist Myriam Bedard, who has been convicted of violating a custody agreement with her former husband, was given a conditional discharge Tuesday.

But Bedard has also been ordered to surrender her passport and any firearms she may have. The ban on travel outside the country is a blow to the former athlete, who had told the judge earlier she need to travel to earn a living.

She was also given two years' probation.

The Crown and her defence lawyer gave their sentencing arguments Tuesday.

Bedard's lawyer, John T. Pepper, had asked Justice Jean-Claude Beaulieu for an absolute discharge for his client. Crown prosecutor Josee Lemieux asked the judge to give a sentence that would send a clear message of denunciation, but also said she would agree to time served in the community.

Bedard testified for almost an hour at her sentencing hearing that she remained involved in different activities around the world to promote her sport, the biathlon. She told the judge she has to travel very often and that a criminal record would harm her and prevent her from earning a living.

Bedard mentioned she is part of efforts to create an Olympic biathlon team in India and added she wants to continue to travel with her daughter, now 12.

In its submission, the Crown took into consideration the fact that Bedard -- who is out on bail -- had spent 14 days in jail.

Bedard faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, but legal precedents in similar cases range from six months to two years of prison time.

Bedard, her daughter and common-law spouse Nima Mazhari travelled to the United States last fall to protest against what they called "bureaucratic terrorism" by Canadian authorities.

She had testified during the Gomery commission into the sponsorship scandal and she said that because of that the government was harassing her and Mazhari.

Bedard, a double-gold medallist in biathlon, was arrested in the United States after an international warrant was issued last December.

In his testimony at her trial, her former husband, Jean Paquet, had stated that Bedard, 37, was trying to take his daughter away from him and that he only got to see her when her mother said so. Bedard denied that. She told the court she would have put her daughter, 11 years old at the time, on the next plane to Quebec to see her father if he had asked to see her.

The six-man, six-woman jury found Bedard guilty on their third day of deliberations.

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