Disgraced Winnipeg police officer who pleaded guilty to ticket fixing removed from force

Const. Elston Bostock , the disgraced Winnipeg police officer who pleaded guilty to numerous offences last month involving corruption as well as inappropriate and illegal actions, no longer has a badge.

"I can tell you Mr. Bostock is not part of our organization anymore," Winnipeg Police Service Chief Gene Bowers told reporters at city hall on Friday.

Bostock, who worked with the police service for more than two decades, was charged alongside Const. Jonathan Kiazyk and Const. Matthew Kadyniuk last year, after a lengthy investigation that began in April 2024.

Bostock had been suspended without pay since he was charged.

All three were released from custody at that time, but Bostock was arrested on additional charges in August, when a fourth officer, Const. Vernon Strutinsky, was also arrested.

Bostock's co-accused have been cleared of criminal charges but are now part of an internal investigation within the Winnipeg Police Service, Bowers said.

He wouldn't comment any more about their status so as not to affect the internal process, but said they are suspended without pay.

Last month, Bostock admitted in Court of King's Bench to offences including getting traffic tickets voided in exchange for liquor and gift cards, stealing cannabis from a police scene, sharing confidential police information and sending lewd texts about a photo he took of the nearly naked body of a woman who had fatally overdosed.

He pleaded guilty to charges that include breach of trust, attempting to obstruct justice, theft under $5,000 and offering an indignity to human remains.

The plea was part of a deal that will see his lawyers ask for nothing less than a penitentiary sentence and provincial Crown attorneys cap their request at six years.

Bostock still faces, and is expected to plead guilty to, other federal drug charges, for which prosecutors are expected to ask for a consecutive sentence of a year, court heard.