A notorious U.S. cocaine trafficker and suspected operator of a bestiality farm was let out of London’s maximum security jail when he wasn’t supposed to be — the second such mistake in a month — The Free Press has learned.
Douglas Spink, 44, was released from Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre on Aug. 10 — the day before he was supposed to be and apparently not to authorities. He was quickly tracked down by the Ontario Provincial Police and taken into custody by the Canadian Border Services Agency.
On July 22, another inmate, facing drug and guns charge, fooled jailers into believing he was someone else and was released. He was arrested two weeks later.
“It seems like they don’t learn from their mistakes,” said lawyer and inmate advocate Kevin Egan. “It’s hard to be completely surprised when they keep messing up again and again.”
Spink is wanted in Washington state for bestiality.
How or why he came to London is not clear, but his past has been reported extensively.
In 2005, he was arrested with 170 kilograms of cocaine worth about US$34-million and sentenced to three years in prison and five years of probation.
Once out, Spink became known as an advocate for zoophilia (sex between humans and animals).
In 2010, authorities in Whatcom County, Wash., raided his property 40 kilometres from the Canadian border.
A British citizen at the farm was convicted of animal cruelty, while Spink was returned to prison for three years for violating his release order by being with someone committing a crime.
Just before he was to be released, three animal cruelty charges were laid against him for the farm activity. Spink called the charges “bigotry.”
Once out in 2013, he was charged again for his online bestiality websites and blogs, despite an order he stay off the Internet.
In February 2014, Spink was suspected of stealing his neighbour’s dog. He denied this, saying he already had a dog — again a direct violation of an order banning him from owning an animal.
A federal judge jailed Spink for nine months in May 2014. He was released in December, but there’s a warrant in Whatcom County for animal cruelty charges.
County prosecutor Eric Richey said Spink fled the jurisdiction some time ago.
He received a phone call a week ago from Canadian authorities telling him Spink was in Ontario and being booted back to the U.S.
London immigration lawyer Ed Corrigan said the drug conviction alone was enough for Canadian authorities to pick up and deport him.
As for the early release from the London jail, Corrigan said, “They dropped the ball but they recovered quickly.”
London, Ont., jail wrongfully releases U.S. cocaine trafficker suspected of operating bestiality farm | National Post
Douglas Spink, 44, was released from Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre on Aug. 10 — the day before he was supposed to be and apparently not to authorities. He was quickly tracked down by the Ontario Provincial Police and taken into custody by the Canadian Border Services Agency.
On July 22, another inmate, facing drug and guns charge, fooled jailers into believing he was someone else and was released. He was arrested two weeks later.
“It seems like they don’t learn from their mistakes,” said lawyer and inmate advocate Kevin Egan. “It’s hard to be completely surprised when they keep messing up again and again.”
Spink is wanted in Washington state for bestiality.
How or why he came to London is not clear, but his past has been reported extensively.
In 2005, he was arrested with 170 kilograms of cocaine worth about US$34-million and sentenced to three years in prison and five years of probation.
Once out, Spink became known as an advocate for zoophilia (sex between humans and animals).
In 2010, authorities in Whatcom County, Wash., raided his property 40 kilometres from the Canadian border.
A British citizen at the farm was convicted of animal cruelty, while Spink was returned to prison for three years for violating his release order by being with someone committing a crime.
Just before he was to be released, three animal cruelty charges were laid against him for the farm activity. Spink called the charges “bigotry.”
Once out in 2013, he was charged again for his online bestiality websites and blogs, despite an order he stay off the Internet.
In February 2014, Spink was suspected of stealing his neighbour’s dog. He denied this, saying he already had a dog — again a direct violation of an order banning him from owning an animal.
A federal judge jailed Spink for nine months in May 2014. He was released in December, but there’s a warrant in Whatcom County for animal cruelty charges.
County prosecutor Eric Richey said Spink fled the jurisdiction some time ago.
He received a phone call a week ago from Canadian authorities telling him Spink was in Ontario and being booted back to the U.S.
London immigration lawyer Ed Corrigan said the drug conviction alone was enough for Canadian authorities to pick up and deport him.
As for the early release from the London jail, Corrigan said, “They dropped the ball but they recovered quickly.”
London, Ont., jail wrongfully releases U.S. cocaine trafficker suspected of operating bestiality farm | National Post
