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It was only after reports appeared in The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star in April and May of a second video showing the mayor smoking crack that the investigation kicked back into high gear.

As part of that investigation, police spoke to the mayor’s sister, Kathy Ford. In two separate interviews, she confirmed that she had smoked crack with her brother in her home on April 26.

Ms. Ford said she bought the crack from Michael “Jugga” James, whom she described as a crack, heroin and cocaine dealer. (Mr. James has never been convicted of selling drugs.) She added that Mr. James was in the basement with her, her brother and Alexander “Sandro” Lisi, the mayor’s one-time friend and accused drug dealer, and that Mr. James had been the one to film their exploits.

Ms. Ford said her brother “arrived at the house intoxicated,” that night according to the document. “He was brought there by his driver ‘Jerry.’ ”

In Nov. 2013, Mr. Ford hired Jerry Agyemang, a city hall security guard, as his personal driver. His salary is paid by the City of Toronto.

Ms. Ford also identified her brother “as being the individual depicted in the photographs published by The Globe and Mail. The item in his hands is a ‘crack pipe.’ ”

She added that her grown daughter was asleep upstairs while the two were in the basement, getting high.

The publication of the second crack video was a turning point for Mr. Ford. The night the story broke, his team announced he was taking a leave of absence to seek treatment for alcohol abuse. He first tried to enter the United States, then turned back and later checked into an in-patient treatment facility in the Muskokas.