The Alberta Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeals of two leaders of the 2022 Coutts border blockade who were convicted of mischief and weapons offences.
Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick asked the province’s top court to overturn their convictions or, alternatively, reduce their six-and-a-half-year sentences.
On Thursday morning, the court dismissed the conviction appeals.
In 2024, jurors convicted Carbert and Olienick of mischief over $5,000 and possession of a dangerous weapon. Olienick was also found guilty of possessing a pipe bomb.
The men were found to have armed themselves “for the purpose of using those weapons against police,” said trial Justice David Labrenz in his sentencing decision.
Both men were acquitted of the more serious offence of conspiring to kill RCMP officers.
Carbert’s defence lawyer Katherin Beyak asked the panel of judges to overturn his convictions, arguing the trial judge made errors in his rulings on admissible evidence.
Beyak argued the search warrant that led to the seizure of key Crown evidence was unlawfully issued. She called the search a “ruse,” arguing investigators were not actually looking for information and data related to the illegal border protest; rather, they were searching for weapons.
The pair faced the most serious charges among the more than a dozen people charged in connection with the weeks-long protest against COVID-19-related restrictions and vaccine mandates at the border crossing in January and February 2022.
During the on-and-off blockade, protesters used trucks, farm tractors and other vehicles to block traffic at the busy Sweetgrass-Coutts border crossing on Highway 4.
Carbert and Olienick were arrested after RCMP found guns, ammunition and body armour during searches of trailers near the blockade.
Originally, four men were charged with conspiring to murder police officers, but before the trial began, two pleaded guilty to lesser offences.
At the time of their sentencing, Carbert and Olienick had nearly four years credit for the time they spent behind bars pending trial.
In Parole Board of Canada documents released before the appeal hearing, Carbert was noted to have dedicated himself to personal growth and education while incarcerated.
He was described as “quiet and respectful” and has called his attendance at the Coutts protest “the worst decision” he’d ever made.
The board noted that Carbert was “self-radicalized from internet search” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carbert’s sentence was paused in June 2025, when he was released on bail pending the outcomes of his appeals.
In January 2026, Olienick was released on bail pending the outcome of his appeals.
