WINNIPEG – Criminal charges that include fraud have been stayed against a former National Hockey League player agent who has died.
An obituary in the Winnipeg Free Press says 54-year-old Stacey Don McAlpine died at home in his sleep on March 5.
Court records show charges against McAlpine of fraud, theft and laundering the proceeds of crime were stayed in a Winnipeg courtroom two days later.
McAlpine was accused of bilking former hockey stars Danny Heatley and Chris Phillips out of more than $12 million while acting as their agent and business adviser between 2004 and 2011.
Police alleged that the players gave McAlpine money to make investments on their behalf but he used the funds instead for personal business.
Both players also filed lawsuits against McAlpine, as well as against his parents.
CTV reported last year that Heatley was awarded more than $6 million by a Calgary court.
Winnipeg police began an investigation in 2013 and charged McAlpine in October.
“After years of pursuing this case, I am pleased that the Winnipeg police have also become involved and made this arrest,” Heatley said in a statement at the time.
Heatley, drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2001 as a winger, spent four seasons with the Ottawa Senators before stints with San Jose, Minnesota and Anaheim. He played 869 games, scoring 372 goals and 791 points.
Phillips, a defenceman, spent his entire NHL career with the Senators playing 1,179 games and amassing 288 points.
