Three people sentenced to prison for N.B. woman’s violent kidnapping, assault

Three people who were involved in the violent kidnapping and assault of a 54-year-old woman in Tobique First Nation, N.B., in April 2024 have been convicted and sentenced to prison.

The RCMP says Jacob Perley, Preston Sockabasin and Adam Perley, all from Tobique First Nation, appeared in Woodstock provincial court on Friday.

They were each convicted of the following offences:

• kidnapping with a firearm
• extortion with a firearm
• forcible confinement
• forcible confinement while choking to overcome
• forcible confinement while using a stupefying or overpowering drug
• possession of a prohibited firearm
• assault causing bodily harm

Jacob Perley was sentenced to six years in custody, while Preston Sockabasin was sentenced to four years in custody, and Adam Perley was sentenced to three years in custody.

Woman kidnapped, assaulted

The convictions stem from April 29, 2024, when the Tobique RCMP responded to a report of a kidnapping and assault in the community.

Police say the victim, a 54-year-old woman from Florenceville, N.B., was kidnapped at gunpoint, held against her will and assaulted. She was treated in hospital for significant, but non-life-threatening injuries, and later released.

Investigators determined a number of people were involved in the kidnapping, and they executed a search warrant at a home in Tobique First Nation on May 6, 2024.

Police arrested seven people, including Sockabasin and the two Perleys, and laid 62 charges in connection with the incident.

Keagan Paul, Ashley Paul and Sheena Sappier, all from Tobique First Nation, were also convicted in the case. They are due in Woodstock provincial court for sentencing on Nov. 5.

Troy Pelkey of Tilley, N.B., is set to appear in court on Dec. 12.

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