A man who admitted to selling drugs in Winnipeg is trying to withdraw his guilty pleas, alleging he was threatened at gunpoint by a disgraced police officer now in prison for corruption.

The man told a judge Wednesday he knew the officer as Alpha but has since learned his real name is Elston Bostock. Bostock, a veteran constable, was sentenced to seven years in prison and removed from the Winnipeg Police Service after he admitted to a long list of crimes involving corruption and selling drugs.

The man, who can’t be identified because of a publication ban, described himself as a gambling addict who ended up owing money to drug traffickers and was then forced to work for them. When he was eventually arrested, he alleged a trafficker he worked for met up with him and brought Bostock along. The man said Bostock pulled out a gun as both men threatened him.

“He said, ‘Don’t f— around.’ He said, ‘We are going to kill you right now … and then throw you in the river. Nobody can get your body,'” the man testified before Court of King’s Bench Justice Jeffrey Harris, his voice at times getting louder as he became emotional.

He said he told Bostock and the trafficker he would plead guilty to the drug charges and that he wouldn’t “say anything to anyone.”

“I swear to God, I was crying. I will just tell you, I thought they were going to kill me.”

WATCH | Man tells judge disgraced cop threatened him at gunpoint:

Man wants to withdraw pleas, says ex-Winnipeg police officer threatened him

A man who admitted to selling drugs in Winnipeg is trying to withdraw his guilty pleas, alleging he was threatened at gunpoint by Elston Bostock, a veteran police officer now in prison.

“They were upset that you were going to tell on them to the police,” Crown attorney Matthew Sinclair said as he cross-examined the man.

“Yes,” the man replied. He said that was the first time he’d ever met Bostock but recognized him because he’d earlier seen a photo of him on the trafficker’s phone.

The man also told court the same trafficker talked about having a police officer in his pocket and said he heard the officer would sell the trafficker things he stole, such as gold chains and guns.

“He said Bostock always sells. Whatever he steals from them, [the trafficker] always buys from Bostock,” the man said.

“That’s what [the trafficker] had told me, yeah. If he goes [to] … someone’s house, he steals like gold or something. He gives something to government, something he keeps in his pocket. And he sells it.”

When asked why he didn’t raise those issues earlier, the man — who originally came to Canada as an international student — said he didn’t know who to turn to. He said he was afraid to go to the police given the circumstances and was worried for his family’s safety.

The hearing to determine whether the man will be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas is scheduled to continue Thursday.

Bostock’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.