#Canadian couple who posed as motel workers to get COVID vaccine face jail time

A wealthy Canadian couple, who posed as motel workers to receive a coronavirus vaccine meant for vulnerable remote Indigenous residents, are now facing jail time.

Casino executive Rodney Baker, and his actress wife Ekaterina, could get six months behind bars for covertly chartering a plane to the Yukon to get the inoculation meant for the elderly and vulnerable in a remote community, according to The Canadian Press.

The couple was fined $1,800 for violating Yukon’s Civil Emergency Measures Act, but community officials argued that was not a sufficient penalty for the couple, who made $36 million in stock options last year, according to the report.

The Bakers are now each charged with failing to self-isolate for 14 days and lying about their business when arriving in Canada’s least populated territory, according to the wire service.

They are reportedly set to appear before a Whitestone judge in May.

Baker resigned from his position as CEO of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation Sunday, in the fallout from the scandal.

The Vancouver residents received the vaccine at a mobile clinic that had been administering doses of the Moderna shot to about 100 residents of Beaver Creek, most of whom are members of the White River First Nation, on Jan. 21.

The 55-year-old mogul and the 32-year-old actress told staff they were new workers at a local motel, but raised suspicions when they asked for a ride back to the airport after getting their shots, instead of going to quarantine in nearby Whitestone.

Medical workers called the police after the motel confirmed that the Bakers weren’t actually employees.

Authorities caught up with the disgraced couple as they prepared to board their chartered private plane out of the remote province.

“I have to say I’m outraged by this selfish behavior. All of us as Yukoners are outraged,” Yukon Community Services Minister John Streicker told reporters Wednesday, the Canadian Press reports. “I find it disturbing that people would choose to put fellow Canadians at risk in this manner.”

Streicker said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are also investigating the couple’s actions, and the incident has reportedly prompted officials to require anyone getting a vaccine for proof of residency.

The official said the Bakers had not issued an apology to the First Nation, whose members feel “violated” by their actions.

There are currently no active cases of the coronavirus in the Yukon Territory, according to government statistics.