A Canadian man facing murder charges for allegedly selling lethal substances online to people at risk of self-harm has agreed to plead guilty to counseling or aiding suicide, his lawyer told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday.
In turn, Canadian prosecutors will withdraw all 14 murder charges laid against Kenneth Law, lawyer Matthew Gourlay told CBC News.
Law’s case is scheduled to return to a Newmarket, Ontario, court on Monday afternoon.
Calls to Gourlay’s office and to Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General were not immediately answered.
Canadian police say 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.
Canadian police say Law is suspected of sending at least 1,200 packages to more than 40 countries. Authorities in the United States, Britain, Italy, Australia and New Zealand also have launched investigations.
It is against the law in Canada for someone to recommend suicide, although assisted suicide has been legal since 2016 for people aged at least 18. Any adult with a serious illness, disease or disability may seek help in dying, but they must ask for assistance from a physician.
Law has been in custody since his arrest at his Mississauga, Ontario, home in May 2023.
According to the Canadian Criminal Code, abetting suicide carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. A murder conviction automatically means life in prison, with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.
