Hockey legend Guy Lafleur was convicted Friday morning on a charge of giving contradictory evidence at his son's bail hearing.
"It's considered a very serious crime by the court system, and there's a maximum [sentence] of 14 years in jail" said CTV Montreal's Stephane Giroux, reporting live from the Montreal courthouse after the verdict.
Prosecutor Lori Weitzman said Lafleur should be sent to jail for at least a few months.
"The message that we glean from all of the case law is that in order to underscore the seriousness of this kind of crime, a prison term is the rule. That is what's generally imposed, and that's the jurisprudence I submitted to the judge for his consideration," said Weitzman.
Defence lawyer Jean-Pierre Rancourt said Lafleur should be given only a fine.
He argued that Lafleur had no criminal intent, and said he has already been punished enough -- through humiliation and widespread media attention.
"The fact that he was found guilty this morning, and it will be broadcasted everywhere in North America, I think that's enough deterrence for him," said Rancourt.
Lafleur will be sentenced June 8.
Hotel visits questioned
The charge stems from testimony Lafleur gave during a bail hearing for his son, Mark, in September 2007. The younger Lafleur had been charged with uttering death threats, forcible confinement and assault.
Lafleur told the court he agreed to ensure his son would obey a court-ordered curfew if he were granted bail pending trial.
But subsequent testimony in court revealed Lafleur in fact drove his son to a hotel so he could spend private time with his girlfriend -- who was 16 at the time -- on two occasions.
Lafleur later told the court the hotel visits had slipped his mind during the September bail hearing. He subsequently testified that he didn't think the hotel visits were significant, and that even though he left home for awhile, his son never actually broke his curfew.
The Crown argued that Lafleur had reason to mislead the court because it was in his interest to help his son.
The defence countered that it was feasible Lafleur was genuinely unaware of the fine details of the curfew.
$3.5 million civil suit
Police issued a warrant for Lafleur's arrest in January 2008.
At the time, Lafleur's defence team said that the police and the Crown acted in "an arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable way" by issuing a warrant for his arrest, because he was not a flight risk and was unlikely to re-offend.
The defence also accused the police and the Crown of "gross negligence and malicious intent."
Lafleur has filed a $3.5 million civil suit against the police and the Crown over the warrant.
