Sudbury-born former NHLer uses AI to appeal fraud conviction

Aya Dufour · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2025 5:21 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Former NHL subordinate and governmental campaigner Troy Crowder was astatine the Sudbury courthouse connected Wednesday to entreaty a fraud condemnation from 2022.

Back then, Crowder pled blameworthy to knowingly submitting a forged papers during an security payout, which helped divert $45,000 distant from his estranged wife.

He received an eight-month conditional sentence, the archetypal fractional of which had to beryllium served connected location arrest and a one-year probation order.

Crowder, who was best-known arsenic a combatant and enforcer during his pro hockey career, says this entreaty isn't astir overturning his sentence, which helium already served, it's astir clearing his name. 

"I've had a large estimation my full life," helium told CBC. "I'm an guiltless person." 

He says the condemnation has prevented him from attending his children's hockey games southbound of the border and has made it harder for him to entree healthcare successful the U.S.

Artificial quality utilized to find grounds for appeal

Crowder— who ran for the Progressive Conservatives successful Sudbury successful the 2018 provincial election— represented himself during the entreaty hearing, partially for fiscal reasons, but besides due to the fact that helium wanted to trial retired immoderate of the cognition helium gained portion serving his sentence.

"After spending 4 months connected location arrest, I did a batch of speechmaking astir the law… I recovered retired that you're allowed to usage AI successful court," helium said. 

Crowder utilized that exertion to find grounds for entreaty and constitute up ineligible documentation. 

"I asked AI for proposal and each clip it said 'ineffective counsel' oregon 'miscarriage of justice' from the Crown." 

In court, helium argued helium had received mediocre ineligible proposal that led him to judge a disadvantageous plea woody alternatively of heading to trial. 

Crowder interrupted and spoke implicit the justice presiding implicit the entreaty proceeding connected respective occasions. 

The Crown prosecutor maintained determination were nary grounds for appeal, and that determination wasn't capable substantive grounds to reopen the case.

The justice reserved their determination and warned that it would instrumentality clip earlier the parties would cognize the result of the appeal.

If it is granted, the fraud lawsuit would head to trial, wherever Crowder would again look 5 fraud charges alternatively of the azygous 1 helium pled blameworthy to successful 2022.