Swindling Former Ottawa Call Girl Granted Day Parole

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[url]http://www.ottawacitizen.com/News/Ottawa/Swindling%20former%20Ottawa%20call%20girl%20granted%20day%20parole/6625758/story.html[/url]

OTTAWA â?? A former Ottawa call girl, who bilked a disabled man out of more than $850,000, has been granted day parole after serving 16 months of her four-year prison sentence.

Darquise Lâ??Ecuyer, 32, will live in an Ottawa halfway house and work as a secretary at her husbandâ??s construction firm, according to documents obtained from the parole board.

Lâ??Ecuyer â?? she used to go by the name Johnson â?? will be on day parole for six months. She then becomes eligible for full parole.

In written reasons, a parole board panel said it had a difficult time coming to a decision in the case given Lâ??Ecuyerâ??s â??history of deceit and manipulation.â?

But the board said it was influenced by two native elders who spoke in support of Lâ??Ecuyer during the hearing.

Lâ??Ecuyer embraced her Métis heritage while in prison. She withdrew from conventional psychological counselling in favour of an aboriginal program, which she said offered more insight into her history and behaviour.

Lâ??Ecuyer has said she was abused as a child and has struggled with depression.

â??It is their (the eldersâ??) collective view that the trauma that you claim to have experienced is real and that it has affected your ability to make proper decisions,â? the parole board panel noted.

â??They believe that your remorse is genuine and that they believe you will not repeat such criminal behaviour in the future.â?

The board expressed reservations about Lâ??Ecuyerâ??s credibility, but concluded she did not present an undue risk to the community on day parole.

Doug Macklem, the Ottawa computer systems analyst victimized by Lâ??Ecuyer, attended last monthâ??s parole hearing and submitted a victim impact statement.

In an interview, Macklem said the case highlights whatâ??s wrong with the justice systemâ??s approach to white collar crime.

â??They donâ??t treat it seriously,â? he said, â??even though this is going to be a lifelong financial and emotional struggle for me.â?

Macklem said Lâ??Ecuyer essentially took $850,000 from him in return for 16 months in prison: â??Thatâ??s a pretty good salary,â? he said, â??even for a professional athlete.â?

At the parole hearing, Macklem asked the board to order Lâ??Ecuyer to honour the restitution order imposed by the judge as part of her sentence.

The board, however, said it is unable to attach such a condition to an inmateâ??s release.

Macklem said he has little faith that Lâ??Ecuyer will live up to the pledge she made to pay him 20 per cent of her wages.

â??Iâ??m not sure I believed half of what she said,â? said Macklem, who uses a wheelchair because of his cerebral palsy. â??She says whatever she needs to in order to get the result sheâ??s looking for.â?

In 2006, Macklem invested heavily in two fictitious Caribbean tourist villas based on his belief that he was building a future with Lâ??Ecuyer, whom he had first hired as an escort.

In December 2006, after draining Macklem of his savings, Lâ??Ecuyer faked her own death and went to live in Jamaica with Nolan Johnson, to whom she was married.

Lâ??Ecuyer was arrested after returning to Canada in June 2007. She was convicted last January of fraud and extortion.

Macklem spent his inheritance, liquidated his RRSP account and mortgaged his family home during the fraud. When taxes and civil court costs are added to what Lâ??Ecuyer swindled from him, Macklem said, he lost more than $1.4 million



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