Aboriginal activist gets no jail time for 2007 blockades

Lead Mohawk protester Shawn Brant talks with the media in this Canadian Press file photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Tom Hanson)

BELLEVILLE, Ont. - Aboriginal activist Shawn Brant will not spend any more time in jail for his actions in two blockades last year near Deseronto, Ont.

In an unexpected move, what was to be the start of three weeks of pretrial motions in the case turned into a 30-minute trial Monday morning in Belleville, Ont.

Judge Stephen Hunter found Brant guilty of three counts of mischief exceeding $5,000.

Brant was charged for an April 2007 protest that halted rail traffic on CN Rail's main line, and for leading a blockade during last year's aboriginal day of action in June that shut down Highway 401.

Brant was sentenced to 57 days of pretrial custody, a 90-day conditional sentence and one year of probation.

During his probation, he is banned from participating in or organizing any unlawful protests and owning weapons -- with the exception of those used for aboriginal hunting and fishing.