Victim was dragged by hair, punched, shown an imitation gun, bound with zip ties, and injected with an unknown substance to stop them from testifying.
Winnipeg Law Courts (George Penner photo)
WINNIPEG, Man., – A 45-year-old Indigenous woman with a history of gang involvement has been sentenced on June 8 to five years and 155 days in federal prison for a campaign of violence and intimidation against a vulnerable witness she tried to stop from testifying against her.
Krista Roulette was convicted after trial of nine offences arising from an April 28, 2024, on-street assault, and pleaded guilty to a separate Jan. 5, 2024, abduction. The combined sentences total more than five years of additional custody, on top of time already served.
The Jan. 5 incident, described by Associate Chief Judge D. Guénette as “horrifying,” involved Roulette snatching the victim — a drug user in their early 20s — from the street by the hair, dragging them into a house, and having them bound with zip ties. Roulette punched the victim repeatedly, showed them a silver handgun, and told them “I should have shot you the last time.”
The court heard Roulette then prepared hypodermic needles with an unknown substance, told others to “get the victim high and overdose them,” and had the substance injected into the victim’s arm while tape covered their mouth. The victim lost consciousness and woke to find the needle still in their arm.
The victim was a witness and complainant in an earlier January 2023 extortion case against Roulette, which remained unresolved at the time of both incidents.
The April 28, 2024, on-street assault occurred while Roulette was still on bail. She and her boyfriend approached the same victim walking to a convenience store, demanded they drop the pending charges, threatened to “blast” them, and smacked the victim across the face.
“The particularly problematic aspect of the April 28 on-street assault is not about the physical violence deployed during the incident,” said the judge. “It is instead the overall context by which the victim at that point was being psychologically terrorized.”
Roulette was born in Sandy Bay and grew up in a home marked by alcohol and violence. She was apprehended by child welfare authorities after witnessing her mother strike her father with a kitchen knife, and experienced abuse in foster care. She lost custody of her children after relapsing into substance use and has since struggled with methamphetamine.
“She presents as a very capable individual, with an ability to rely on her inner strengths once she decides she is ready for it,” said the judge, noting she has taken steps toward cultural reconnection and expressed genuine remorse at sentencing. “She wants to be a better person, and a better mother. She says she is committed to change.”
However, the judge found her “moral culpability in relation to the events for which I must pronounce sentences is high.”
The court heard Roulette has spoken with “bravado” about her status as a high-ranking gang member and has shown “no expression of remorse” in reports, though she later apologized to the victim. She has been disciplined while in custody and has not given definite indication she is prepared to leave the gang lifestyle.
At the close of sentencing submissions, Roulette addressed the court, apologizing to her victim and asking for forgiveness in what the judge described as “a genuine expression of remorse.”
The judge emphasized that denunciation and deterrence were the primary sentencing objectives, noting that “if an accused successfully intimidates a witness, the result can be that the prosecution of that accused will be frustrated,” quoting from the 2010 case R. v. Michel.
“Drug dealers and their debt collectors prey on the vulnerabilities of their customers,” said the judge. “Once Ms. Roulette was accused of having extorted her victim over a drug debt, she came to be exposed to potential legal jeopardy. With that being the case, she literally snatched the victim from the street against their will, had them restrained, physically assaulted them, and then caused an unknown substance to be injected into them.”
The judge imposed sentence of four years for the Jan. 5 abduction, two years and six months for the April 28 count of provoking fear in a justice system participant, and one year each for assault with an imitation handgun and possession of an imitation handgun for a dangerous purpose.
Her global sentence was 6.5 years. With three years and two months of enhanced pre-trial custody credit, she has three years and four months remaining.
Ancillary orders include mandatory DNA orders, 10-year weapons prohibitions, and waiver of victim surcharges.
