Ex-ADM admits fraud and bribery.

OTTAWA -- Paul Cochrane, a former Assistant Deputy Minister of Health, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a jail term for his dealings with a Manitoba native substance abuse centre.

He is one of nine people charged with fraud, theft and bribery in obtaining federal funding for the Virginia Fontaine Addictions Foundation in the 1990s. Foundation director, Perry Fontaine, and his wife are facing charges in the Manitoba courts.

The former ADM pleaded guilty to two charges: breaching the public's trust by providing preferential treatment to the foundation and receiving bribes of approximately $200,000 in gifts from Fontaine.

Cochrane and members of his family received payments in cash, gifts in the form of Ottawa Senators season tickets for three years, charitable donation receipts, three SUVs, Caribbean cruises and a trip to Florida, all paid for by Fontaine.

Cochrane authorized Health Canada gave 70 million dollars to the the treatment centre, much of it by-passing normal departmental procedures. His former secretary, Aline Dirks, and his son Jeremy Cochrane, were also charged, but the cases against them have been stayed. Ontario Superior Court Justice Lynn Ratushny sentenced him to a year in custody followed by two years probation. The sentence was recommended jointly by Crown Attorney and Cochrane Lawyer. As Assistant Deputy Minister of Health. Paul Cochrane headed the First Nations Inuit Health Branch, a branch that had a $1 billion budget and a staff of 2,600 employees. He was fired in 2000 following an internal audit.