Canadian man expected to plead guilty to selling lethal substances to people who killed themselves

TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian man accused of selling lethal substances online to people who took them to end their own lives is expected to plead guilty Friday to 14 counts of counseling or aiding suicide, his lawyer said.

Kenneth Law is scheduled to appear in a Newmarket, Ontario, court to enter the plea and sentencing is expected to take place later. Canadian prosecutors will withdraw 14 murder charges in exchange for Law's plea, his lawyer Matthew Gourlay said.

Police in Canada and around the world have been investigating more than 100 suicides linked to Law. All charges against him in Canadian court are related to 14 people across Ontario who were between the ages of 16 and 36.

Canadian police said Law, from the Toronto area, used a series of websites to market and sell sodium nitrite, a substance commonly used to cure meats that can be deadly if ingested.

Law is suspected of sending at least 1,200 packages to more than 40 countries with about 160 of those allegedly sent to addresses in Canada, police said. He has been in custody since his arrest at his Mississauga, Ontario, home in May 2023.

Authorities in the United States, Britain, Italy, Australia and New Zealand also have conducted investigations. British police in 2023 were investigating the deaths of 88 people who bought products from Canada-based websites allegedly offering lethal substances to people at risk of self-harm.

Those found guilty of aiding suicide in Canada can face up to 14 years in prison, while first-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

A New Zealand coroner found that four people who died by suicide there had ordered items online from a business associated with Law, but noted that Law’s activities are outside the jurisdiction of New Zealand courts.

It is against Canadian law to recommend suicide, although assisted suicide has been legal since 2016 for people 18 and older. Any adult with a serious illness, disease or disability may seek help in dying, but they must ask for assistance from a physician.