by Toronto Superior Court sentenced former fashion mogul Peter Nygard to 11 years in prison Monday on four counts of sexual assault.
In November, the 83-year-old Nygard was convicted of four counts of sexual assault for incidents involving three women and a minor in the private quarters of his company’s former offices in Toronto. These attacks took place between the 1980s and 2005.
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With credit for time served, Nygard, who was sitting in the courtroom Monday, will be jailed for six years and seven months.
The Crown asked for a sentence of 15 years in federal prison and Nygard’s attorney, Gerri Wiebe, asked for a six-year sentence, due to his age, what he called “his deteriorating health” and the time served. The self-made millionaire’s health was addressed during Monday’s hearing – Nygard suffers from Type 2 diabetes and glaucoma and his legal team argued that his medical care under the prison system was inadequate.
Before sentencing Nygard, Superior Court Judge Robert Goldstein said, “Mr. Nygard is a sexual predator. He used his job as a fashion designer, who traveled to exotic locations [where] in each of his luxurious residences and clubs attended by famous models to benefit young women. He made fun of them telling them that they looked like or could be fashion models, or that they dressed nicely. He flew business class with Entourage. It blocked the possibility of glamorous travel, employment and business opportunities.”
Goldtstein continued, “Part of Mr. Nygard’s power was the fact that his private space was well equipped for non-consensual sexual contact. Mr. Nygard could have a luxury condo or apartment in Toronto, or even stay in a luxury hotel during his visits. By using his private apartment in his own office building, he could regulate access and prioritize his victims without considering any interference with anyone who was not his employee.”
The sentencing hearing was postponed several times, in part due to Nygard working with three different lawyers this year. The August 2 hearing was adjourned at the request of the Crown so that Neville Golwalla, the Crown attorney who was traveling at the time, could attend.
Nygard was arrested in Winnipeg in December 2020 on a temporary warrant issued by the U.S. In December 2020, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York released a nine-count indictment charging him with racketeering, sex trafficking, and other related crimes. over a ten-year period that allegedly involved at least several victims in the United States, the Bahamas and Canada. All three locations are areas where the fallen fashion executive had business operations.
The Finnish-born Nygard was recognizable for his blond mane, year-round tan and unbuttoned dress shirts. He started his eponymous sportswear company in 1967 in Winnipeg, expanded its distribution to the US in 1978 and opened an international office in Toronto in 1987. At its peak in 2003, Nygard generated approximately $250 million in sales. in the US and $5O0 million in Canada. Specializing in affordable basic sportswear sold in department stores, Nygard was an early adapter of vertical manufacturing, expanding into Asia and paperless operations. However, as competition increased, the ailing business filed for Chapter 15 in May 2020 and its brands were put up for sale. Following a September 2020 raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York Police Department on Nygard’s Times Square offices, the few other major chains that carried Nygard’s clothing and accessories dropped their labels. The founder of the company resigned from his company in December 2020.
After being held at Headingley Correctional Centre, Nygard was transferred to the Toronto South Detention Centre, after being charged in that city in October 2021.
Media requests to Wiebe and her law firm, Wiebe Criminal Defense, were not immediately returned Monday morning.
Last year Nygard’s took legal action to fight his pending extradition to the US in connection with the sex trafficking and racketeering offenses he faces there. Over a 25-year period, Nygard allegedly used “the influence of the Nygard Group, as well as its employees, funds, and other resources, to recruit and maintain adult and minor female victims for Nygard’s sexual gratification and the sexual gratification of his friends . and business associates,” according to the indictment, which was unsealed by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Nygard also faces one count of sexual assault and confinement in Quebec.
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