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Senator Who Once Boxed Against Justin Trudeau for Charity Guilty of Assault, Cocaine Possession

“I am not a woman beater,” Canadian Senator Patrick Brazeau told reporters on Wednesday, after pleading guilty to assault and cocaine possession. Sexual assault charges were dropped.
Justin Ling
Montreal, CA
Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Part of the legal drama around embattled Senator Patrick Brazeau, a fallen star of the Conservative movement in Canada, ended today as he walked out of a Quebec courtroom with a pair of convictions, but no jail time.

The unelected senator, who once boxed prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau for charity, was arrested last year and slapped with multiple charges of cocaine possession, assault, sexual assault, breaching bail conditions, uttering threats, and driving under the influence.

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During the proceedings, the court heard from a former girlfriend of Brazeau's, who testified that he sexually assaulted her and then pushed her down a flight of stairs.

The woman testified that Brazeau flew off the handle after a news report alleging that Brazeau was skirting taxes.

Charges arising from those sexual assault allegations — that Brazeau had tried to penetrate her with his thumb, and that he roughly grabbed her breasts — were dropped due a lack of evidence.

Brazeau and his legal team attacked the credibility of that witness, and the judge ultimately appeared to agree that the testimony wasn't enough.

Initially, Brazeau pled not guilty to all charges. He changed that plea on Wednesday, and received an absolute discharge — meaning he will have no criminal record, and he will not be fined or face jail time.

"At the end of the day, I am not a woman beater. I am not an assaulter of women. I'm many things, but I'm not that," Brazeau told media outside the courtroom.

The drunk driving and bail-breaching charges led to strict conditions that forced him to remain sober, and required that he attempt rehab.

His next step, Brazeau told a pool of journalists, is to get back to the Senate.

"I'm still on leave, at this moment," Brazeau said, but said he wants to return "as quickly as possible."

If the senator had received an outright conviction, it's almost certain that his appointment to the unelected upper chamber would have been terminated.

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Justin Trudeau at a weigh-in in 2012 for a boxing match against Patrick Brazeau/Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press

In the previous Parliament, Brazeau and two other senators were suspended while criminal proceedings advanced against them.

But there's still a chance that he may be ejected. Criminal proceedings against Brazeau, focusing around allegedly inappropriate expenses he incurred after his 2009 appointment, will come before an Ottawa judge in March.

Brazeau's face was already plastered over the media this week, thanks to the re-election of his one-time boxing rival.

In 2012 — before Brazeau's legal troubles, when he was a high-profile member of the Conservative Party and an outspoken, but controversial, activist on First Nations issues — the senator went toe-to-toe with now-prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau, who was then just a Member of Parliament.

Trudeau scored a technical knockout in the third round.

Follow Justin Ling on Twitter: @justin_ling