Charges withdrawn against Project Sunrise accused

The front entrance to the Ontario and Superior Courts of Justice on Second Street West in Cornwall, Ont. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

CORNWALL – Prosecutors have withdrawn or stayed all charges against a Cornwall woman arrested in a drug trafficking ring investigation.

Samantha Genge-Baliski, 29, had been charged in June 2021 in the investigation dubbed Project Sunrise that saw five people arrested.

Court records show four charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for possession of fentanyl (two counts), possession of crystal meth and trafficking in fentanyl were withdrawn by the federal Crown on April 2.

A fifth charge of possession of a prohibited weapon – a Taser – was stayed by the provincial Crown on March 1.

Prosecutors assess the strength of a case throughout the prosecution and withdraw or stay charges if there is no reasonable prospect of conviction or it’s not in the public interest to proceed.

Some of the others arrested in Project Sunrise still have their cases before the courts.