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Of the accused, Richard Vallières, 38, faces the most serious charges, theft, fraud and trafficking. Étienne St-Pierre, 73, is charged with fraud and trafficking. Jean Lord, 47, and Raymond Vallières, 62, are charged with possession of stolen syrup.

The prosecutor said the theft and fraud were committed against the provincial syrup-marketing organization, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. The stolen syrup was pumped into a black market that undermines the quotas and prices established by the federation.

“The victims are the 7,500 producers of maple syrup,” he said. “They are people who work the land.”

The prosecutor outlined to the 14-member jury how the crimes were committed.

During the fall of 2011, a truck began appearing at a federation warehouse in St-Louis-de-Blandford, Que., and loading up white barrels filled with syrup from that spring’s harvest. The barrels were moved to a sugar shack belonging to Raymond Vallières, where they were emptied and replaced with water from a nearby creek.

When the creek froze over, the syrup-transfer operation moved to a warehouse in Montreal in early 2012. Finally, the thieves drained the barrels directly at the federation warehouse.

In total, 9,571 barrels were surreptitiously emptied. That represented 59 per cent of a stockpile of pasteurized syrup kept by the federation to ensure supply in lean years and to keep prices stable.

It wasn’t until August 2012 staff noticed something was amiss. Some barrels were dirty even though the warehouse had a clean cement floor. There were signs of rust on them, even though syrup does not oxidize. And when the containers were tapped, some sounded emptier than others.