The former leader of a local gang has been granted statutory release and is back in Saskatoon after being sentenced to seven years for what the parole board calls “high-level trafficking of illicit drugs” and directing a criminal organization.
Michael McNab was arrested in 2011 as part of Project Empire, an investigation by the Saskatoon Police Service into the Terror Squad. Sources tell CTV News McNab was the leader of the gang and a July parole board decision indicates he continued to lead a highly organized criminal organization while in prison.
“... Based on your previous and continued leadership of a violent street gang, there is significant indication that you will present an undue risk to society by committing an offence (while participating in a criminal organization)...," the parole board wrote in its decision.
The board notes McNab’s claim he plans to leave the gang, but said based on past behavior and file information, that’s “questionable, at best, in the Board’s view.”
Saskatoon police say officers and detectives with the criminal investigation division, which includes the guns and gangs unit, are aware of McNab’s release and the conditions imposed on him.
“(The conditions) are court-imposed and we will be doing the checks to make sure those are being met,” Saskatoon police spokesperson Kelsie Fraser said.
The parole board imposed six conditions on McNab: abstaining from drugs and alcohol, living at a halfway house, disclosing financial information, not associating with criminals or gang members and not possessing a phone.
Statutory release differs from parole – most offenders have a legal right to statutory release when they've served two thirds of their sentence, then the parole board decides what conditions should be imposed, according to parole board spokesperson Michelle Goring.
Mcnab was granted statutory release in 2015, but broke his conditions, which led to his release being revoked.
“The offender would be entitled to a new period of statutory release after serving two thirds of the time that's remaining on the sentence,” Goring said.
McNab’s second statutory release document states he has been assessed as a high risk to continue gang involvement and drug trafficking upon release, and despite lengthy incarceration and programming, he continues to lead the gang and hasn’t shown motivation to change his lifestyle.
“Your (case management team) note you also lack in the area of victim empathy and appear to only be cornered with the affect that your actions have had on your family, instead osociety at large,” the document writes.
McNab appears to be committed to his education and completed his high school diploma, according to the decision.
It said McNab was raised in an unstable home, was abused and used drugs at a young age. He joined the gang in 2005 and sold drugs to support himself, his family and his addiction.
One of two halfway houses in Saskatoon accepted McNab. CTV News contacted the residence, but wasn't able to get in touch with him.
