State of Manitoba v. Sergey Vladimir McGrath was the trial of eight-year-old Sergey McGrath for his crime of stealing a Hershey’s chocolate bar from the Market Basket supermarket in New Joetown, Manitoba, on September 26, 2025.
The trial in the Manitoba Circuit Court began on September 28, 2025, and concluded on October 1, 2025 with a guilty verdict. Sergey was sentenced to seven days in prison, with his sentence beginning on October 2, 2025. He will not be released from prison until Thursday, October 8, 2025.
Background
On Saturday, September 26, 2025, Sergey McGrath, the eight-year-old Russian son of Joe McGrath, was arrested by an undercover cop in the parking lot of a Market Basket store in New Joetown, Manitoba.
Under Manitoba law, Sergey was to spend two days in a police station jailcell prior to his trial. Since the defendant is a juvenile, the jury had to consist of children, in this case between the ages of eight to eleven as Sergey is eight years old. In accordance with federal law, Sergey was to be given a lawyer. Perry O’Brien was selected to be the defense attorney for Sergey. The case was supposed to be assigned to Judge Tony Rutherford, but was ultimately assigned to Judge Faye Fitzgerald instead.
Trial
Sergey’s trial began on Monday, September 28, 2025, at the Ruth Bader Ginsburg State Courthouse in Winnipeg. Sammy Quinton, the older sister of Joe McGrath, was hired by the Attorney General of Manitoba to lead the prosecution team.
On Wednesday, October 1, 2025, the verdict was reach. Sergey was found guilty of burglary, and sentenced to seven days in juvenile detention. His sentence was to be served at the New Joetown State Prison, Manitoba’s only prison, from Thursday October 2nd to Thursday October 8th.
Sergey arrived in prison at noon on October 2, 2025.
Sergey’s Prison Life
After arriving in prison, Sergey was forced to wear an orange prison jumpsuit. He was also put into a jailcell with only a toilet and a bed inside. Sergey was required to get up at 5:30 a.m., and go to bed at 9:00 p.m. He was also only fed oatmeal and Cocoa Puffs for every meal; the latter is a food item that Sergey doe not like.
Sergey Gets Pardoned
On October 6, 2025, President Joe McGrath pardoned Sergey.