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Man who filmed Rob Ford crack video gets 8-year jail sentence

Man who filmed Rob Ford crack video gets 8-year jail sentence

Mohamed Siad, the man who took infamous video of then-mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine, has been sentenced to eight years in jail for trafficking guns and drugs.

Siad's family was in the courtroom on Tuesday as the verdict was handed down. Siad, 29, pleaded guilty to five charges against him and admitted to being a member of the Dixon City Bloods gang on Monday.

The Crown had sought a ten year sentence for Siad, while his lawyer suggested seven years. Justice John McMahon picked a sentence in the middle, saying Siad's admitted gun-running across the U.S.-Windsor border was a major factor.

"The people who put guns on the streets of Toronto must be deterred, denounced and stopped. Only an exemplary sentence can accomplish that," McMahon said.

Because Siad has already spent time in pre-trial custody, he's set to spend just under five years in prison.

Siad was arrested during the Project Traveller raids, a 2013 police anti-gang operation, during which police also confiscated the video.

Siad secretly filmed and tried to sell video of the former mayor smoking crack in a Windsor Road home in 2013.

Ford for months denied the video existed before eventually admitting to using crack cocaine. Ford dropped out of last year's mayoralty race for health reasons but was successfully elected to city council.