'I lost everything': Couple says Sask. witness protection program failed them

It was the promise of a fresh start that helped convince Shawn Balch and Tammy Spoonerto enter Saskatchewan's witness protection program.

"They asked me to help them and I did and I lost everything," said Spooner, 44.

I lost absolutely everything going into this program.- Tammy Spooner

The couple say they were promised treatment for their addictions and a new life away from Regina. Instead, they claim they were set adrift in a new city, away from their children, family and friends, and without the support they needed. They lost all of their possessions and continue to live in fear.

They have asked Saskatchewan's Public Complaints Commissionto review their case.

Spooner and Balch say, in retrospect, it may have been safer to work things out with members of the Native Syndicate street gang a primary source of their troubles than agree to testify against them.

"I could have made things right," saidBalch, 43. "There's ways of doing things on the street. I could have not shown up for court. But I made a promise and I kept my word."

From drug addicts to dealers

BalchandSpoonerwent from using drugs, including cocaine and crystalmethamphetamine, to selling them in 2015.

Balch said he kept getting robbed and needed "protection" so he struck a deal with the Native Syndicate.

"Out of respect, I went to them," Balch said. He agreed to fork over about $1,000 a week in "taxes."

• Crystal Wreck: How Saskatchewan's meth problem became a crisis
• RCMPrevamps federal witness protection program following secret review

Despite that, the couple ended up on the wrong side of a dispute with Jeremy Arnold, otherwise known as "Cheese," a high-ranking member of the gang. He claimed the couple owed him thousands of dollars.

The two were taken to a house. When Spooner wentto use the bathroom, the beating began.

"I heard thump, thump, thump," she said. "I ran out of the bathroom and one ofCheese's men was punching Shawn, and he was on the ground, kind of curled up, and asking them to stop."

She said Balchwas sent home with broken ribs while she spent a day and a half selling drugs to pay back the money.

During that time,Balchwas arrested by police for an unrelated incident and taken to jail. He agreed to give a statement against Arnold and other gang members in exchange for acceptance into the provincial witness protection program.

Spoonermade a similar arrangement.

"For me, it was the right thing to do."

Shewas flown out of the province within days of making her statement.

While the couple agreed to have their names andphotographspublished, CBC News is concealing the location where they are now living.

'I wanted to get better'

The provincial government established the witness protection program in 2009 at the request of police.

"It was to help counter organized crime in the province in particular, some of the street gangs that we see," said DrewWilby of the provincial Ministry of Justice.

Unlike the federal program, Wilbysaid it was intended to be "something that was temporary and could provide relocation to ensure individuals who wanted to testify were protected."

Since the program's inception,an average of eight witnesses have entered each year.

From the beginning, things did not go well forSpooner. She saidshe was denied medication for withdrawal at her first treatment facility, as well as prescription medication because it was against the centre's policies.

By the second day, Spoonerwas asked to leave.

"I was very angry, I was very upset, I was very scared and I was veryunco-operative," she said.

Spoonerwas moved to a Catholic-run home, where she was encouraged to go to mass, Bible study, to sew and pray the rosary.

AlthoughSpooneris religious, she said she knew it would not be enough to kick her addiction.

"They promised me a good treatment facility. That was one of the stipulations for me to leave [Saskatchewan]," Spoonersaid, her voice breaking. "I wanted to get better."

'Everything was gone'

Spoonerstayed in the home for more than two months, expecting that her belongings back home were being looked after and would eventually be sent to her, as she was led to believe.

"I didn't find out until about a month and a half later that ... somebody backed up a truck and took everything," Spoonersaid. "Everything was gone."

It was around this time,Spoonersaid, that she relapsed for the first time.

A couple of months later it happened again, and she was kicked out of the witness protection program. Her appeal of that decision was denied.

Spoonersaid her handler gave her $125, told her not to buy drugs with it and sent her on her way.

"I lost absolutely everything going into this program."

Shortly afterSpoonerwas dropped from the program,Balchwas getting his first experience with it.

A surprise visit

Havingdetoxedin a Regina jail cell,Balchwas picked up by undercover officers, taken for lunch and driven to the airport.

You don't put me in the heart of a downtown area, on a prostitute stroll, and expect me to change my life.- Shawn Balch

He stayed in a recovery house in another province and was later moved to an apartment, which Balchsaid was old and stunk.

Worse,Balchsaid, it was in a rough part of the city, frequented by addicts and prostitutes and punctuated by the wail of ambulance sirens responding to overdoses.

"You don't put me in the heart of a downtown area, on a prostitute stroll, and expect me to change my life," he said.

There were also concerns about security. Not long after Balch moved in, the previous tenant returned someone he knew from Regina.

Both had been beaten in the same string of violent offences that eventually resulted in the arrests of several Native Syndicate gang members. Both men had agreed to testify in court and both had entered witness protection.

• Undercover cops bust 9 alleged Native Syndicate gang members in Regina

When the first man relapsed and was kicked out of the program, the apartment was given to Balch.

Afraid that the man would disclose his location, Balch asked to be moved, but he said his witness protection handler just told him not to answer his door.

"So for three weeks I didn't even go out,"Balchsaid. "That's not a new life to me."

Struggling with mental health

Balch was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder,and began seeing a counsellor.

The witness protection program paid for two sessions each month, which his counsellor thought was inadequate. She said she twice requested the program provide morecounsellingforBalch,and when it refused both times, she kept seeing him for free.

• Inside the secret world of Alberta witness protection

(CBC News is not naming the counsellor to avoid disclosing the community whereBalchwas placed in witness protection. Balchdid give her permission to talk with CBC News about his treatment.)

"I just saw how desperate he was, as far as his level ofsuicidalityand hopelessness and isolation and just anxiety off the charts," she said.

She questions the program's handling of addicts, who are already prone to self-medicating to deal with mental health concerns.

"To not address that seems very much like setting them up for failure," she said.

Complaint submitted

Wilbysaid the couple's concerns could be investigated by the Public Complaints Commission a provincialindependent body that investigates police, including the special constables who work in witness protection.Wilbyhas sent a formal complaint written bySpoonerto the commission for review.

They threw me on the street like a piece of garbage.- Tammy Spooner

While he would not speak to the specifics of this case,Wilbysaid if the program promises to look after someone's possessions it should do so.

He said it is also important that the program keep witnesses informed on their cases something Balch and Spoonersaid did not happen. Arnold ultimatelypleaded guilty to robbery and other offences and was sentenced to seven years.

A few weeks afterBalchspoke with CBC News about his concerns, he was moved to a new location by theprogram.

Balchsaid the apartment is nicer, but he continues to fear for his safety. He is asking the provincial program to give him a new identity, something that is possible under the federal witness protection program.

In the meantime,Spooneris seeking compensation for her missing possessions, as well as for her treatment in the program.

"It has been a nightmare," she said. "We gave them what they needed to pick those guys up, to get them off the street. And then they turned around and threw me on the street like a piece of garbage."