Ottawa sex-trade worker jailed for role in 2018 killing of pimp

Media

| 10 July 2022

Ottawa’s Crystal Bastien never thought the men she enlisted to shake down her pimp would kill him.

She just wanted her money back. She worked hard for it and had saved up. She had around $80,000 from turning tricks and some cash payouts from the casino across the river. She kept it in a shoebox and when it went missing she blamed her pimp — Mohamad Mana — for stealing it.Her intimidation plan to recover the cash turned deadly after she lured her pimp to a Walkley Road hotel on the night of Sept. 15, 2018, only for him to be ambushed, bound, beaten and then strangled to death by three attackers.

Bastien, 35, was sentenced this week to five and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter for her role in the killing of Mana, 30.

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Bastien was originally charged with murder in the first degree, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter after her lawyer, Michael Spratt, negotiated a successful resolution with the Crown attorney’s office.

“Ms. Bastien never intended for anyone to be hurt, and she never imagined the night would end tragically. To her credit, she has taken responsibility for her actions and their unintended consequences,” Spratt said after the guilty plea in March.

Read Gary Dimmock’s full story: Ottawa Citizen