Former North Bay deputy mayor Sheldon Forgette had another scrape with local law enforcement over the holidays, making his late-December arrest his third detainment of 2022.
When contacted, Forgette did not want to go into details regarding the situation in order to protect the identities of those involved.
"I am innocent, my hands are completely clean, if I wasn’t I would confess. Honesty is always the best policy. I cannot wait to be vindicated," Forgette tells BayToday.
He confirms he was arrested on Dec. 30, 2022, and charged with failure to comply with a release order. Forgette says he spent 24 hours "unlawfully detained," in custody at the North Bay Police Service headquarters, later appeared in bail court and was released. Court documents show a Jan. 17 court date to speak to the most recent charge has been scheduled. A request for comment from the North Bay Police Service on Forgette's arrest went unanswered.
Forgette's attorney, Shawn Hamilton adds his client "has and will continue to embrace the due process model we are all privileged to live under. In so doing, he vigorously and respectfully denies the allegations made against him. His matters are before the Court, they will continue to progress before the Court, and he remains confident in a fit and proper outcome. Until then, and while his matters make their way through Court, he will have no further comment to make with respect to the allegations."
In October 2022, Forgette proclaimed the allegations levied against him then were "categorically false." At the time, he was a city council candidate and, after the votes were counted, he was not elected. He served as North Bay's deputy mayor from 2014–18 and ran as a candidate for mayor in 2018.
"I'm completely heartbroken by these allegations two weeks before the election," said Forgette then. "These allegations are categorically false and I will be defending myself. People who know me, know that I do not believe in violence, nor condone it."
The order he is accused of breaching stems from the Thanksgiving 2022 arrests. Forgette initially faced six charges. Five charges, including two each for assault and mischief under $5,000 plus one for forcible confinement from the Oct. 9, 2022, arrest. Court documents also show Forgette was subsequently arrested on Oct. 10, 2022, and was charged with failing to comply with the undertaking associated with his release from the previous day's arrest.
See related: Former deputy mayor arrested twice over Thanksgiving weekend
Half of those charges relating to the Thanksgiving weekend incidents have since been dropped in Ontario Court of Justice proceedings. Citing "no reasonable prospect of conviction," the Crown withdrew three charges: one count of assault and two counts of mischief to property under $5,000.
See also: Forgette case proceeding as Crown withdraws some charges
Forgette still faces three charges: one count each of assault, forcible confinement, and failing to comply with an undertaking. The Crown has elected to proceed summarily on all three remaining counts. A judicial pre-trial meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 16 in relation to the original charges. None of the remaining charges cited above have been proven in a court of law.