Ex-RCMP officer Cameron Ortis sentenced to 14 years

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Ex-RCMP Intelligence Official Cameron Ortis has been imprisoned for seven years out of the total 14 year jail-time ordered.

It marks the first time that charges were laid under the Security of Information Act (SOIA). 

Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger delivered the sentence on Wednesday after Ortis was found guilty of breaching Canada’s official secrets law.

He was head of the RCMP’s ‘Operations Research’ group. Ortis is known to have access to crucial sensitive information which was collected by the Canadian government along with the security agencies.

He was arrested in 2019 and was in custody since he was convicted in November 2023.

At the time, the jury found Ortis guilty of three charges of violation of the Security of Information Act and one count of attempt to the same. Moreover, Orti was convicted of breach of trust and improper use of a computer system. 

As per reports, the Crown prosecutors were eying for a decades-long ban but Ortis’ lawyers urged the court to consider the time he had already spent behind the bars. 

​​The judge noted the case's unprecedented nature and its potential lasting impact on Canada's standing with its Five Eyes security allies.

Ortis was reportedly found guilty of leaking information of four individuals including Vincent Ramos, a B.C. cybertech entrepreneur and three international money launderers.

​​Ortis was the Director General of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Coordination Centre before he was arrested in 2019.