‘I’m scared’: Mistakenly-released suspect speaks out, explains TikTok posts
Global News
An Alberta woman who was mistakenly released from jail is telling her side of the story, including discussing her TikTok videos calling out the police.
For the first time, 24-year-old Mackenzie Dawn Hardy is sharing her side the story after being mistakenly released from an Edmonton-area jail with what police say was a fraudulent letter.
On Wednesday, Global News first reported an Alberta woman was released at the end of April from the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre (FSCC), which houses both inmates serving jail sentences of up to two years and those in remand awaiting judgment.
A fraudulent “stay letter” was allegedly submitted under the name of a fake Crown prosecutor and sent through a bogus “defence counsel,” according to a whistleblower Global News has agreed not to identify due to the risk of them losing their job.
On Saturday, Hardy spoke over Zoom with Global News to discuss the day she was released from prison.
“I was on the phone with my boyfriend, we were talking and all of a sudden I got told to pack my stuff (and that) I was being let out,” Hardy said. “So I went (to) pack my stuff. And I was happy, and I didn’t expect anything.”
After the jail received the letter saying her charges had been paused, Hardy was let out. Later, however, police said the letter was a fake.
After a week, Hardy said she heard from her lawyer saying she wasn’t supposed to be out.
“I seriously think it’s (a) government mess-up,” she explained. “I was supposed to go for bail two weeks after being released. Like I had a bail plan all worked out with my lawyer.”
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