A well
known Saint John lawyer Rod Gillis -- who represented St. Stephen Chief Administrative Officer John Ferguson in his battle with the Saint John Pension Board -- is scheduled to be in court today in
Moncton at a sentencing hearing for attempting to obstruct justice.
The actual sentence itself
won't be delivered by Judge Irwin Lampert until a later date because of
all the documentation that has to be gone through.
The charge was laid in connection with Gillis's legal representation of former Liberal M-L-A Frank Branch.
The
former Speaker of the Provincial Legislature was charged with fraud and
extortion. He was also also legally involved in a civil suit against the
North Shore Forest Products Marketing Board. Branch pleaded guilty to
fraud over 5 thousand dollars, ordered to pay restitution and was
sentenced to house arrest and probation.
Meanwhile,
according to the Law Society of New Brunswick website, Gillis has been
suspended from practicing law but there's no explanation why.