Emily Wessel - Merritt Herald
Former Merritt RCMP Staff Sgt. Stuart Seib pleaded guilty to breach of trust in a Kelowna provincial courtroom on Tuesday.
Seib was charged with allegedly stealing and using cocaine from a police evidence locker in January 2012.
Seib was the head of the Merritt detachment and had spent nearly two decades with the RCMP when the charges came to light. He resigned from the RCMP shortly after the charges were laid.
The first plea comes about a year after Seib’s first scheduled court appearance on Feb. 21, 2012. The appearance was delayed more than five times for various reasons, including Seib’s drug treatment and special prosecutor Sheryl Wagner’s involvement in a lengthy murder trial.
An agent acting for defence attorney Neville McDougall entered the plea for the former top cop. Seib also faces two charges of theft under $5,000.
Seib is scheduled to be back in court on April 9 for sentencing.
He was the NCO-in-charge of the Clearwater RCMP detachment from the summer of 2003 until the fall of 2011.