THUNDER BAY – Mayor Keith Hobbs and his wife expect to learn in nearly two months whether the criminal case against them will continue.
Closing submissions were delivered at the Thunder Bay Courthouse on Friday, concluding a two-week preliminary hearing for Keith and Marisa Hobbs, each charged with extortion and obstructing justice, and Mary Voss, who is facing one count of extortion.
The couple are alleged to have been involved in attempting to coerce Sandy Zaitzeff to purchase a house for Voss and then interfering in the subsequent investigation.
All three were present in court on Friday.
The purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine whether the case will proceed to trial. The allegations have not been tested in court.
Ontario Court Justice David Gibson is expected to return with a decision in late August.
Charges were laid against the accused last July by provincial police with the initial court indictment accusing them of using “threats, accusations or menace of disclosing criminal allegations to the police” against Zaitzeff in an effort to force him to purchase a house for Voss to live.
Thunder Bay Police Service chief J.P. Levesque had earlier been charged with breach of trust and obstructing justice for disclosing to the mayor that he was the subject of an RCMP criminal investigation. The charges against Levesque were dismissed in January.
Zaitzeff earlier this year pleaded guilty to four offences, including one count of invitation to sexual touching, and was sentenced to 15 months probation after receiving credit for six months of pre-trial custody.
