The former manager of a Coquitlam poultry company has lost his bid to withdraw his guilty plea to stealing nearly $1.9 million from his employer.

On March 15, 2016, on the third day of trial, Bruce Steven Arabsky pleaded guilty to one count of theft over $5,000 involving his company, Superior Poultry Processors Ltd. He was also initially charged with fraud.

While acting as a senior manager for the firm, Arabsky had arranged wire transfers totalling $1.9 million from Superior to a company in Saskatchewan of which he was the sole shareholder and president. The offences occurred between November 2009 and March 2010.

Court heard that he entered the plea on the advice of his lawyer, who recommended he plead guilty to theft as it carried a lesser penalty of the two charges that had been laid against him.

Sentencing was adjourned until May 2016 so that a psychiatrist’s report on Arabsky could be prepared for the court. Two days after the report was issued, on Aug. 22, 2016, Arabsky fired his lawyer.

The report had indicated that he suffered from no mental illness. Arabsky then sought an adjournment so that he could have a new lawyer and make an application to withdraw his guilty plea.

Arabsky argued that his plea was not voluntary and unequivocal, and that he was given little time to consider the matter and was under undue pressure to make a decision.

He claimed that his former counsel told him that if he pleaded guilty he would not get jail time. But his lawyer testified that he told Arabsky that it was very hard if not impossible to get a conditional sentence, but that with evidence showing mental illness, it might be possible.

The Crown argued that the plea was voluntary and unequivocal, and that he was informed of the potential consequences, which included a jail term of three to five years.

In her ruling dismissing the application to withdraw the plea, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Laura Gerow noted that the first time Arabsky indicated he wished to change his plea was after the psychiatric report was released and found he knew of the Crown’s position calling for jail time.

“In my view it is apparent that Mr. Arabsky was well aware of the sentence the Crown would be seeking if he pleaded guilty,” said the judge. “He was also aware of the nature of the charges against him.”

The judge said the evidence indicated that the accused entered a voluntary, unequivocal plea.

“There is no miscarriage of justice if the plea is not withdrawn,” she said.

A sentencing hearing for Arabsky is scheduled for July 6.

In March 2016 the B.C. Court of Appeal upheld Arabsky’s December 2014 conviction for mislabelling and selling chicken drumsticks as turkey drumsticks. He’d been convicted of the offences under the Food and Drugs Act while he was employed as the general manager of Superior.

Arabsky had instructed the production supervisor at the plant to prepare chicken drumsticks for export to Afghanistan and place them in boxes labelled turkey drumsticks.

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An undated photo of Karim Meskine, 19, who died a few days after being attacked at the 22nd Street SkyTrain station in December 2013. Meskine’s attacker, a 16-year-old youth, was given a seven-year youth sentence in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday.

A teenager who used a baseball bat to beat another teen to death near a SkyTrain station has received a seven-year youth sentence.

In June 2016, the teen, who was 16 at the time of the slaying and cannot be identified due to a publication ban, was convicted of the December 2013 second-degree murder of Karim Meskine, 19.

The victim was walking in the darkness along a path near the 22nd Street SkyTrain station in New Westminster when the accused came up behind him and hit him over the head with the bat.

Meskine fell to the ground and was hit several more times over the head. He was rushed to the hospital but died later of his injuries.

The accused had earlier that night met three other youths and planned to find someone trying to sell a smartphone online and rob them. They arranged to meet an individual near the SkyTrain station but when the target didn’t show up, the accused inexplicably attacked Meskine.

After the attack the teens fled the scene, with the accused phoning a cousin to say he’d hurt a guy and thought he was dead. The accused also later phoned 911 to report the crime and was soon after arrested.

At the sentencing hearing, the Crown argued that the offender should be sentenced as an adult. The teen’s lawyer argued for a youth sentence.

In imposing sentence on Thursday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gregory Bowden found that the Crown had not met the legal test for an adult sentence.

“While (the teen) is solely responsible for the heinous murder of Mr. Meskine, I have concluded that his conduct showed immaturity and impulsiveness rather than the insight into the wrongdoing of a more mature, reflective, considered adult,” said the judge.

Friends and family of 19-year-old Karim Meskine pay their respects at a memorial for the murdered teen at John Robson elementary school in New Westminster in February 2014.

Bowden said the Crown had not rebutted the presumption of diminished moral culpability to which the teen was entitled.

The judge imposed a youth sentence of seven years, comprised of four years in a provincial prison and three years of supervision in the community. He declined to grant the teen credit for pre-sentence custody of more than three years.

As part of the sentence, the judge ordered that the teen be eligible for an intensive rehabilitative custody and supervision program that is available for teen offenders.

He urged the teen to take advantage of all the programming and counselling that will be made available to him and warned him that if he misbehaved in prison he might be transferred to a federal institution where the programming would come to an end.

Matthew Nathanson, a lawyer for the teen, said outside court that the judge was sensitive to the fact it was a “senseless tragedy.”

And he said the judge correctly found that there was nothing he could do or say to bring Meskine back or to ultimately remedy what had happened to the victim’s family.

“What is important for the public to know is that my client is truly, genuinely remorseful for his actions. All of the experts said that. And that’s not an 11th-hour remorse on the day of the sentencing.”

Nathanson said he was confident that with the programming available to his client, he will be able to be successfully rehabilitated and reintegrated into the community.

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• Teen convicted of second-degree murder in New Westminster beating death
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• 'It could have been anybody': Trial begins for youth accused of murder near New West SkyTrain station

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A judge has dismissed the claims of a man that he was brutally assaulted by police in downtown Vancouver in a case of mistaken identity.

Solomon Akintoye testified that after he was stopped by cops while he was walking along Richards Street on the way to a job interview, he was repeatedly kicked and punched by police who mistakenly believed he was a fraud suspect.

Const. Jennifer White and Const. Jeremiah Birnbaum, the officers who initially detained Akintoye, denied those allegations and claimed that Akintoye was aggressive and kicking at them. They testified that they only used force that was reasonable during the “investigative detention.”

In her ruling on the case, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Margot Fleming said that although Akintoye was detained because of a mistake about his identity, the detention was lawful and necessary and the force used reasonable during the April 2011 incident.

The judge said she had significant concerns about the credibility of Akintoye, who had mental-health issues and has now been diagnosed as being schizophrenic.

“His evidence regarding the extreme violence inflicted by the police also strikes me as implausible, bearing in mind the police incident occurred in mid-afternoon in downtown Vancouver, where police officers would reasonably expect their actions to be observed by any number of people,” said the judge.

“Further, Mr. Akintoye’s allegations that he was punched in the face and body, kicked with boots repeatedly and his face smashed into the pavement are inconsistent with the documentary evidence.”

The judge said that, in contrast, the evidence of the police officers was consistent and minor discrepancies in their descriptions of the incident were explained by differences in their exposure to the circumstances.

“Each of them testified in a straightforward, sincere manner. They were responsive and reasonable throughout,” said the judge. “Accordingly, where the evidence of the plaintiff and the police officers conflict, I largely prefer the evidence of the police officers.”

The judge said that at the time of the incident Akintoye, 33, was likely experiencing some psychotic symptoms and the symptoms included hallucinations and delusions.

“I draw this inference bearing in mind the plaintiff’s memory difficulties may well have affected all aspects of his evidence.”

When Birnbaum and White tried to put handcuffs on Akintoye, White ended up on the ground with Akintoye on top of her and fighting uncontrollably. Other officers arrived on the scene and took Akintoye into custody, and he was taken to the Vancouver jail and held for 23 hours before being released.

Doug King, a lawyer who represented Akintoye, said that he and his client were “obviously disappointed by the ruling.”

“We had hoped that the court would see fit to put greater restrictions on when the police can engage with people on the street like this,” said King, who works with the Pivot Legal Society.

“We will take a look at whether or not there are legal issues that should be appealed. I think ultimately some of the factors in Solomon’s case will probably sooner rather than later end up in front of the higher courts.”

The Vancouver police had no comment on the ruling.

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The Crown is seeking an adult sentence for a youth who fatally shot a man following a confrontation between two groups of young men in Burnaby.

The teen, who was 16 at the time he killed Aladdin Ramadan, 20, in September 2014 and cannot be identified due to a publication ban, was acquitted by a jury of second-degree murder but convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter.

In sentencing submissions Wednesday in Vancouver, Crown counsel Linda Ostry said that the central issue on sentencing was the nature of the confrontation that resulted in Ramadan being shot to death.

She told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes that the circumstances including the events leading up to the shooting and the fact that the victim was shot three times meant that it was a case of “near murder” and called for an adult sentence.

Ostry noted that before the shooting, the teen was picked up in Surrey by an acquaintance named Samir Mokhtar, who had a beef with the victim. The teen had a loaded firearm in his possession.

Mokhtar, who was charged with the manslaughter of Ramadan but was himself the victim of a fatal shooting in July 2015, drove to Burnaby with the teen and another young man.

They were travelling along the Lougheed Highway when another car driven by Ramadan pulled up beside their vehicle. The two vehicles turned right onto Rosser Avenue and then pulled over to the curb, the groups of young men in each vehicle spilling out into the street.

Related

• Murder trial opens for teen accused of fatal shooting on Burnaby street
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When Ramadan walked quickly toward Mokhtar, the teen got into the middle of the two men and following a struggle with Ramadan, fired three shots at the victim.

One shot entered the victim’s back, blowing out part of his heart, while another shot went through his brain stem. Both were potentially fatal shots. A third shot went through his right side.

Joseph Saulnier, a lawyer for the teen, conceded that possessing a firearm was an aggravating factor for his client but argued that the teen had no plan and fired the shots because he was fearful of Ramadan, a large and muscular man.

Saulnier, who is seeking a youth sentence for the teen, said there was also no evidence of a Crown theory that the teen was acting as a bodyguard for Mokhtar at the time of the slaying.

Sarah Ramadan, a younger sister of the victim, gave a tearful statement in court, telling the judge that she was speaking for members of her family, including her mother and father.

“Losing Aladdin has broken my heart into pieces. Aladdin was everything to me. He was my role model and mentor.”

As the victim impact statement was being read, the teen sat staring straight ahead in the prisoner’s dock.

There is a mandatory minimum of four years in prison for a youth who receives an adult sentence for manslaughter in a case where a firearm is used in the commission of the offence and a maximum of life in prison. A youth sentence for manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of three years.

The accused was arrested about a week after the shooting. He was carrying a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic pistol in his waistband. The Crown said the gun was the weapon used in the slaying.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled to be finished by Friday.

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A man who was convicted of sex offences against an underage girl at a Vancouver beach three years ago has been sentenced to two years in jail.

In August last year, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Gropper found David Alan Lessor, 49, guilty of sexual assault and sexual interference of the eight-year-old girl at Acadia Beach at the University Endowment Lands on July 1, 2014.

In imposing sentence on Lessor on Thursday, the judge said the aggravating factors for him included a prior conviction in 2005 for sex offences against two underage girls for which he received a conditional sentence.

“Mr. Lessor’s actions here were predatory and opportunistic,” said the judge. “In respect of moral blameworthiness, I find that the offence was very grave.”

The judge imposed a sentence of two years and three months in jail, reduced to two years, 1 1/2 months after giving him credit for pre-sentence custody.

She ordered Lessor to remain on the sex-offender registry for life and banned him from attending public parks and swimming areas where persons under age 16 are present.

The Crown had called for a two-year jail term. Lessor, who fired his lawyer after he was convicted and represented himself at the sentencing hearing, had called for a lower sentence.

The offender, who interrupted the judge several times as she read out her reasons for sentencing and was ordered to remain silent at one point, made a spectacle of himself after the sentencing. He told the judge that the “God of spiritual law” had passed a sentence on him and found him not guilty.

“My God will send his angel ahead of me to deliver me from your hands, from your government,” he said. “Jesus Christ is coming.”

As a sheriff placed handcuffs on him and led him away, he shouted:  “Hallelujah, hallelujah! Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus!”

Court heard that shortly after the girl, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, and her mom had arrived at the beach, Lessor came by and sat with them, beginning a conversation with them.

When the mom left to retrieve some items from her van in the parking lot, Lessor lifted the girl’s dress high enough to show her bathing suit. Reaching between her legs from behind, he wiped or swiped the part of her bathing suit that covered her vagina and her buttocks.

In a victim-impact statement, the girl said that she felt like she was going to cry when she talked about the incident and added she thought Lessor knew what he was doing.

Outside court Thursday, Crown counsel Kristin Bryson said she commended the victim and her mother for their courage in coming forward and reporting the crime, and for maintaining their resolve throughout the lengthy proceedings.

“I also commend the RCMP for their thorough investigation into this matter and the manner in which they dealt with the young victim. Our courts handled this challenging matter involving a very difficult defendant in an exemplary manner,” Bryson said.

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A Kelowna massage therapist who was accused of massaging the breasts of a female patient is going to court in a bid to overturn a restriction imposed on his practice.

The patient filed her complaint against Robert Morgan in May, and in June an inquiry committee of the College of Massage Therapists of B.C. found that there was a risk to the public and ordered that a chaperon be present whenever he treats a female patient.

In a petition filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Morgan, 40, says that at no time during the massage session did he perform a breast massage on his patient.

“At all times, the treatment the petitioner provided to (the patient) was designed to address pain she was experiencing in her lower back.”

In the petition, Morgan says that the committee did not identify, beyond its possession of one unproven complaint, how he represented a risk to the public.

“The petitioner disputes the facts of the complaint, has co-operated with the college, has no criminal record and no record of prior disciplinary complaints,” says the petition. “The restrictions placed on the petitioner are unreasonable given that there was nothing from which the inquiry committee could extrapolate a risk to the public.”

Morgan’s petition says that roughly 95 per cent of his patient base is female and the imposition of a chaperon will “significantly” affect his ability to continue to earn a living.

“He expects the vast majority of his patients to seek treatment from other (registered massage therapists) rather than permit him to provide treatment with a chaperon in the room. The imposition of a chaperon pending the conclusion of its investigation into this matter will impact the petitioner’s ability to earn.”

Morgan, who earned about $3,000 a month before the complaint was filed, says he expects his income to be reduced by as much as 90 per cent as a result of the restriction. The potential harm to him outweighs the benefit of protecting the public from an event that has not occurred before with him, says his petition.

“An allegation that something has happened once does not create a real risk that it will happened again and before the disciplinary process is complete. There must be some indication, such as a history of this kind of conduct, to find that such a risk exists.”

The petitioner says that he works in a busy clinic with nine other therapists at any given time and does not meet clients at home or in an isolated environment where the risk of future misconduct is higher.

“Mitigation of real risk of harm to the public does not require that a chaperon be present during treatment of female patients. Conditions that restrict a registrant to only providing massage-therapy treatments at a clinic will also mitigate a real risk of harm to the public.”

The petition seeks to quash or otherwise set aside the committee’s decision, which remains in effect until the college’s disciplinary process is complete.

A spokesman for the college said they had not yet been served with the petition and had no comment at this time.

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A judge has ordered the release on $1 million bail of a Richmond man who is accused of being an illegal international arms dealer and is being sought for extradition to the United States.

In May, a court in New York state issued a warrant for the arrest of Aydan Sin, 45, to stand trial on criminal charges under six provisions relating to an alleged conspiracy to export arms illegally from the United States to customers in Dubai and Colombia.

Sin and two men from Montreal, who are also charged with money-laundering, are alleged to have negotiated with an undercover agent of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security the sale of 40 Glock semi-automatic pistols and 15 Mini Uzi submachine guns with silencers.

The allegation is that the firearms, which were to have their serial numbers removed, were to be obtained in the U.S. and exported overseas, with the cost being US$96,000 for the weapons and another US$26,000 spent on circumventing requirements for an arms export licence.

U.S. authorities claim that before Sin and his two co-accused aborted the transaction, Sin had wired a US$70,000 payment.

On June 20, the B.C. Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Sin, who was taken into custody the following day. Paperwork officially seeking his extradition is expected to be filed in the court within two months. The two Montreal men have also been arrested.

At a bail hearing last week, the Attorney-General of Canada acting on behalf of the U.S. sought the continued detention of Sin, who was born in Hong Kong and came to Canada at the age of 13 before becoming a Canadian citizen, on the primary ground that he is a flight risk.

A lawyer for the Attorney-General argued that if convicted of the offences in the U.S., Sin faces a maximum sentence of 85 years in prison and would therefore be motivated to flee upon his release.

But Sin retained a lawyer in New York who offered the opinion that a more realistic sentencing range for him was five to eight years in prison, even taking into account the fact that from 2007 to 2011 Sin was in prison in Washington state after being convicted of distribution of ecstasy.

In a ruling released Monday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice George Macintosh said that an assessment of the strength of the case against Sin was relevant in assessing his flight risk.

“In my view the strength of the case is a neutral factor in assessment of flight,” said the judge. “I say that given that the strength of the case does not appear to be exceptionally strong or exceptionally weak.”

The judge said that considering the evidence as a whole, Sin’s flight risk can be properly managed given his ties to Canada and with appropriate conditions of bail, including the surrender of his Canadian and Hong Kong passports, reporting daily to a bail supervisor and a “substantial” surety. 

On the ground of whether Sin’s release would bring the system of justice into disrepute, the judge noted that illegal arms deals are a “heinous” activity intended to propagate killing for profit.

He said the only thing saving Sin were the considerations that he was entitled to protections under the Charter including the presumption of innocence, the right to liberty in our society and the right to be tried within a reasonable time.

The judge said that “with some reluctance” he was not prepared to conclude Sin was required to remain in custody in order to uphold the administration of justice.

In addition to the $1 million bail, Sin will be under house arrest at his Richmond residence.

Outside court, Sin’s lawyer Rishi Gill said: “My client is very pleased he has been granted bail and is looking forward to contesting the matter before the courts. Both in Canada and the United States.”

Sin, who was unsuccessful in obtaining a publication ban on his identity, is scheduled to be back in court Aug. 16. Sin attended high school in Vancouver and graduated from the University of B.C. with a degree in electrical engineering.

He worked as an electrical engineer before being convicted on the drug charges in the U.S. Since then he has been self-employed, earning a modest income obtaining building maintenance contracts for property management companies as well as deriving income from two rental properties.

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A woman is suing a downtown Vancouver hotel in connection over an incident in which she says her finger was partly severed by a slammed door.

In a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Dolores Bice says that at the time of the incident — on July 11, 2015 — she was staying as a guest in the Landis Hotel, located at 1200 Hornby St.

“As she was departing her room, the door-closing mechanism on her hotel room failed, causing the door to slam shut on her left hand and subsequently sever (part of) her ring finger,” says her lawsuit.

“As a result of the incident, the plaintiff sustained serious personal injuries, losses and damages.”

Bice, described in the lawsuit as being retired, said the personal injuries included injuries to her finger and left arm and shoulder, generalized pain and suffering, and stress and anxiety.

“At present, the injuries sustained in the incident cause and continue to cause the plaintiff pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and permanent disability, both physical and psychological.”

She claims that as the owner of the premises, the hotel owed her a duty of care to take reasonable steps to ensure that she was safe and alleges that the incident was caused by the hotel’s negligence.

Particulars of the alleged negligence include a failure to warn her that the door to her room could have posed a risk to her safety by reason of the failure of the door-closing mechanism.

Bice is seeking general and special damages, cost of future care and loss of housekeeping capacity.

No response has yet been filed to the lawsuit, which contains allegations that have not yet been tested in court.

A woman identifying herself as the property manager of the hotel said the matter is being dealt with by an insurance company that is investigating the incident.

The manager, who declined to give her full name, said she was not employed by the hotel at the time of the incident and, therefore, it was “very hard” for her to comment.

“We never heard of any accident like this, ever,” she said of the incident.

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A schizophrenic man who fatally stabbed his landlord has been found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

Joshua Edward Dillon was initially charged with the July 29, 2015 second-degree murder of Beverly McLeod, 30, in her Fort Nelson home.

In reaching her verdict in the case, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Murray told the court that a finding that Dillon was not criminally responsible is not a finding of not guilty or a ticket to freedom.

She said there was no doubt Dillon, who was 22 years old at the time of the slaying, killed McLeod, who had sublet the basement suite of her home to the accused.

But she added that Dillon killed McLeod because he was suffering from a mental disorder that affected his ability to appreciate the moral wrongfulness of his actions.

The judge ordered that Dillon be detained in “strict custody” at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, adding it was not the type of hospital that many may be thinking of.

“It is a secure facility. It is very much like a jail. In fact, there are probably less facilities there for him than in a jail.”

The judge, who had heard a number of compelling victim impact statements, said she came to her conclusion based on the evidence and the law and hoped that the family members would understand that and come to some peace with the decision.

Court heard that McLeod’s mother discovered her daughter in the kitchen in the lower suite suffering from 13 stab injuries. The victim died later in hospital.

Dillon was seen leaving the premises covered in blood. On the way to his sister’s home, he removed and discarded articles of clothing and his shoes. He was arrested early the following day walking on a rural road near Fort Nelson, a small community in northeastern B.C.

The victim’s mother told police that Dillon had not been paying his rent on time and had broken into McLeod’s suite several times. The day before the slaying, McLeod had arrived home to find her terrarium had been damaged and spiders she kept as pets had been killed.

Dillon confessed to police that he’d assaulted McLeod and had stabbed her at least a dozen times but also spoke of some “crazy dreams or memories” that he had had.

The judge noted the findings of two psychiatrists that at the time of the slaying, Dillon was suffering from schizophrenia and had been actively psychotic in the weeks leading up to, during and after the slaying.

Dillon was suffering from several delusions that caused him to fear for his life, one of them being that McLeod was sending spiders through vents in the house to his basement suite and the spiders were laying eggs under his skin.

“Clearly, Mr. Dillon was in a highly psychotic state,” the judge said. “Ms. McLeod was one of the people he feared but it really did not matter whether it was Ms. McLeod or someone else coming down those stairs. Mr. Dillon was convinced that whoever it was, they were going to kill him. It was, in his mind, kill or be killed.”

Rulings in the case were released orally in April and May, with written rulings posted at the court’s website Monday.

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Related

• Man claiming 1983 wrongful murder conviction was in error has daughter, grandchildren waiting for him
• Teen convicted of murdering 19-year old Karim Meskine gets 7-year youth sentence

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A judge has acquitted a Langley trucker who was arrested after 23 kilograms of cocaine was found in a secret compartment in his vehicle at the Canada-U.S. border.

Major Singh Gausal, the owner of Gausal Trucking Ltd, was detained when he tried to bring his tractor-trailer unit through the Huntingdon border crossing on Dec. 3, 2012.

At the time, he was returning to Canada after picking up two loads of produce in California. He stated that he had no goods to declare.

But Canada Border Services Agency officers, who were informed that the refrigerator unit at the front of the trailer was of interest, conducted a search of the vehicle.

A power drill used by an officer on the front wall of the trailer penetrated a barrier that he believed should not have been present and upon extraction, a white powdery substance was found on the drill bit that turned out to be cocaine.

The front wall of the trailer was dismantled, revealing a secret compartment comprising five vertical sub-compartments below the reefer unit.

Inside the compartments were 23 one-kilogram bricks of cocaine, each brick wrapped in red plastic. Police determined the wholesale value of the drugs to be close to $1 million and the street value more than $2 million.

Gausal was arrested and charged with one count of importing a controlled substance and one count of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

In his ruling in the case, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gordon Weatherill said it was clear that the accused had control over the trailer at the time the cocaine was found.

He said the main issue was whether Gausal had actual knowledge or was wilfully blind as to the presence of the drugs in his truck, noting that the case was entirely circumstantial.

The Crown argued the evidence did not give rise to any reasonable inference other than that Gausal was guilty as charged.

The prosecutor noted Gausal was alone in the truck that he owned through his company and that modifications to the interior of the vehicle were substantial and would have required a significant amount of time to install.

In addition, the Crown pointed to the value of the drugs and said it defied common sense and reason that such a large and valuable cargo would be entrusted to anyone who did not know about it, and that the drug importer would have ensured that the courier knew about the drugs and took care.

But the judge said that although the Crown’s arguments “generally exude reason and common sense,” the problem was that the evidence showed the accused was anything but careful.

He noted Gausal had received a ticket in the U.S. for having too much weight over his rear axles and had to redistribute the load by opening one of the pallets. Gausal made no attempt to secure the contents and the contents shifted and were strewn about, the disarray attracting the attention of the border officers.

“It is difficult to believe that anyone with knowledge of the significant quantity of cocaine in the trailer would not have taken steps to properly secure the load in order to avoid the very arousal of curiosity and interest that led to the discovery of the cocaine in this case,” said the judge.

“If the rationale of the drug importers was to avoid the use of a so-called blind courier because they might be careless, that rationale failed miserably in this case.”

The judge added it was “highly significant” that all of the officers who dealt with Gausal found him to be co-operative and not showing any sign of suspicious behaviour.

Gausal’s lawyers suggested it was reasonably plausible that employees of the facilities where the produce was picked up were to blame for the cocaine shipment, the judge noted.

And while it may be that the accused “probably” had knowledge of the drugs, probable guilt does not meet the criminal standard of proof, said Weatherill.

The ruling was given out orally June 16, with the written reasons posted at the court’s website Monday.

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A prosecutor urged a jury Thursday to convict a German man accused of attempting to smuggle six kilograms of opium in two suitcases through the Vancouver International Airport.

Court heard that Erol Ureten, 49, was arrested after he flew from Hamburg, Germany to Vancouver on Jan. 11, 2016.  

When customs officials searched two suitcases being brought into the country by Ureten and a man he identified as his stepdaughter’s boyfriend, they found the drugs, valued at $300,000, hidden in secret compartments.

At trial, Ureten pleaded not guilty to one count of importing a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.

The main issue at trial was whether or not Ureten, who testified that he thought he was bringing designer clothing into the country, was aware that drugs were in the suitcases.

He claimed that a stranger that he only identified as Olaf had approached him in Germany and offered to pay him to carry a suitcase carrying the designer clothing to Canada.

In final submissions to the B.C. Supreme Court jury on Thursday, Ureten’s lawyer Mark Swartz argued that his client was an “unsophisticated blind courier, an unknowing dupe.”

“He was someone who could be financially exploited,” said Swartz. “He was naive. He could easily be manipulated into believing untruths.”

He said there was no evidence to prove that Ureten, who was employed as a trucker in Germany, had any way of knowing there were drugs in the suitcases.

“The Crown’s case is woefully inadequate and they have not proven Mr. Ureten’s guilty beyond a reasonable doubt … When assessing the evidence, no evidence points to actual knowledge” of the drugs.

But Crown counsel Kendra Torvik told the jury that the case was about a man who intentionally imported opium into Canada and intended to pass the drugs to other individuals or a group.

“The Crown’s theory of the case is that Mr. Ureten knew that there was drugs in the bags or at a minimum he suspected there was and he didn’t want to know.”

Torvik said Ureten planned a 10-day trip to Canada with the stepdaughter’s boyfriend as a ruse or a scam to avoid the scrutiny that he might have received had he arrived alone at customs with two large bags for one man for a short trip.

The prosecutor said that although Ureten testified he didn’t know about the drugs, his story wasn’t plausible.

“It isn’t believable and it doesn’t accord with life experience,” she said. “Your common sense should tell you: When does one accidentally come into possession of a commodity valued at $300,000?”

Trovik said the accused’s own testimony showed he was suspicious that there were drugs in the suitcases but that he didn’t take any steps to find out whether that was actually the case.

She pointed to the “pretty mysterious figure” of Olaf, a man who didn’t reveal his last name, had no business cards and couldn’t say whether he had an office or a website.

After final submissions from the lawyers, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Lance Bernard charged the jury and the jury began deliberations.

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A dispute that generated a great deal of tension and ill will has ended with a judge awarding a Vancouver Island woman close to $110,000 in damages after her neighbours built a home that obstructed her views. 

Court heard that Li Zhang bought her home in Central Saanich in December 2013 after finding the views to be beautiful, especially the ocean and mountains.

The property across the street had nothing built on it. However, in 2015 Ben and Erin Davies bought that lot and built a home on it. Ben Davies is the grandson of the couple who originally owned both strata lots.

After discovering that she no longer had unobstructed views to the east and that on sunny days the glare of the sun reflected off the metal roof of the new home into rooms at the front of her home, Zhang filed a lawsuit.

She claimed that the couple had breached a binding legal obligation known as a restrictive covenant that provided that no house could be constructed on the property purchased by the Davies without her prior written approval of the plans and specifications.

The Davies argued that her claim should be rejected and that the restrictive covenant, which was registered at the land title office, was void and unenforceable.

Court heard that before construction, Ben Davies took the plans to Zhang, who came to Canada from China and is a permanent resident, and tried to explain what the new house would look like. Due to a language barrier, communication was difficult.

He testified that he asked Zhang to sign off on the plans, but Zhang was concerned about the height of the house and wanted to take the plans to a designer for review and advice.

By March, 2015, the Davies received approval of the plans and specifications for their house from the owners of two other strata lots in the development, but not from Zhang. They went ahead with construction anyway.

Zhang filed her lawsuit on June 2, 2015 and a few days after the action was filed, Ben Davies approached Zhang twice and tried to get her written approval for the plans.

“However, Ms. Zhang felt very uncomfortable with Mr. Davies coming over to her house,” said B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elaine Adair in her ruling on the case. 

“After the second visit, she erected a large sign essentially telling him to stay away and to contact her lawyers. The police were also called.”

After the house was built, Zhang found that in addition to her views being blocked, on sunny days the glare of the sun off the metal roof meant she had to abandon altogether the use of a master bedroom on the second floor of her house.

She claimed the glare made her feel dizzy and impaired her vision and that she had sought medical advice.

In her ruling, the judge found that the purpose of the covenant was to preserve the views and that there was a practical benefit, namely in terms of the views and the real estate value.

She concluded that the covenant was valid and enforceable and that the Davies’ house was in breach of it. The judge awarded Zhang $102,000 for the breach of the covenant and another $7,500 for the nuisance caused by the glare of the sun, for a total of $109,500.

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A jury has found a German man guilty of smuggling six kilograms of opium inside two suitcases at Vancouver International Airport.

The B.C. Supreme Court jury convicted Erol Ureten, 49, of one count of importing a controlled substance and one count of possessing a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.

The court was told that the accused was arrested after he flew from Hamburg, Germany to Vancouver on Jan. 11, 2016.

When customs officials searched Ureten’s suitcase and the suitcase of his co-accused, Jan Boie, they found six kilograms of opium hidden in secret compartments.

The main issue at trial was whether Ureten, who testified that he thought he was bringing designer clothing into the country for a man he only identified by the name Olaf, was aware that the drugs were in the suitcases.

His lawyer claimed that Ureten, who was employed as a trucker in Germany, was an “unsophisticated blind courier, an unknowing dupe” of the drug organization.

The Crown however argued that his story wasn’t plausible, and that he knew there were drugs valued at $300,000 in the suitcases, or suspected there were drugs and didn’t want to know about it.

The jury verdict in a Vancouver courtroom came Friday afternoon following a day of deliberations. Ureten is to make his next appearance in court Wednesday to fix a date for sentencing.

Boie, who was identified as Ureten’s stepdaughter’s boyfriend, was earlier acquitted.

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A deaf woman who committed sex offences against a troubled underage girl has been sentenced to two years less a day in prison.

In March, a jury found Moreen Akumu, 36, guilty of sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, being a householder who permitted prohibited sexual activity and sexual assault in relation to the offences involving the 14-year-old girl, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban.

The victim had come to Akumu’s East Vancouver apartment building to visit a friend. Akumu, who knew the girl and her mother, invited her up to her suite and once inside the suite, gave her alcohol.

The accused and the girl later went out and bought some marijuana and more alcoholic drinks, with the girl consuming enough to become very intoxicated.

Akumu led her into her bedroom and the two engaged in oral sex together. Akumu took a sexually explicit photo of the girl. Later, Akumu phoned a male friend named Mohammed Boima and invited him over to her apartment and Boima, who was also charged and convicted in the case, had sexual intercourse with the girl. 

Later still Akumu contacted the victim through Facebook, invited her back to her apartment with an offer of more alcohol and asked the girl not to speak to her mother about what had happened.

The girl, who was suffering from depression at the time, gave a victim impact statement in which she said she’d lost all trust in Akumu, referring to her as a family friend, and said she felt suffocated and “almost deranged.”

Her mom told the court that her daughter was beginning to heal from her depression at the time but that afterward she became dangerously depressed and after completing her victim impact statement had attempted suicide.

In imposing sentence Monday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barbara Fisher said there were a number of aggravating factors, including that Akumu had abused a person under the age of 18, was in a “low level position of trust”” with the victim and was aware to some extent the girl was troubled.

“Ms. Akumu provided (the girl) with alcohol and drugs, allowed her to get extremely intoxicated and took sexual advantage of her in that state.”

The judge said the primary mitigating factor was that Akumu, a mother of five who came to Canada from Uganda and is not a Canadian citizen, had no prior criminal record.

She noted that Akumu is deaf and communicates through sign language, gestures, lip-reading and some verbalization and is supported by disability benefits.

The judge concluded that the accused’s disability was a factor that she could consider in determining the length of incarceration.

“I do think it will be a challenge for Ms. Akumu to get along in a prison setting. It stands to reason that she will be limited in her ability to participate in programs.

“Indeed, with a first-time offender with her challenges, it may very well be difficult for her to protect herself in the prison population, particularly in respect of these charges.”

The Crown had called for a sentence of three to four years in prison for the May 2014 crimes, with the defence arguing for a sentence of one year to two years less a day in prison.

Akumu sat weeping in the prisoner’s dock during the sentencing, wiping away tears with a Kleenex. Due to the length of the prison term, she faces deportation after having served out her sentence.

The judge earlier sentenced Boima to 16 months in prison.

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A dispute over an alleged real estate flip has landed a B.C. family in court.

Gary McNeal, a building contractor and roofer, claims that in June 2014, he and his stepdaughter, Shannon Lorraine, agreed to participate in a “flip” regarding a waterfront property in Maple Ridge.

The property at 20194 Wharf St. is located on the Fraser River and at the time of the purchase had a dilapidated house that could be renovated, says McNeal’s notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court. It represented a “ripe opportunity” for those involved in flipping real estate, adds the suit.

When he first approached Lorraine with the opportunity, his stepdaughter, who he had known and helped raise since she was eight, decided not to participate but later changed her mind, says the lawsuit.

They agreed to have him focus on renovating the house and improving the property and her handle all applications for financing, says the suit.

All financial benefits would be split evenly and upon selling the property, profits would be distributed in equal parts, subject to any “over-contributions” which would be reimbursed before profits were disbursed, it says.

Lorraine informed McNeal that given his status as a self-employed person and his credit history, they would be charged a higher interest rate if they applied jointly for financing; as a result, she proposed that she become the registered owner with her holding his half interest in the property in trust for him, says the lawsuit.

In September 2014 the property was purchased for $347,500. In December 2016, when Lorraine decided to move to Vancouver Island, the two decided to sell the property; on April 12, 2017, it was sold for $865,000, says McNeal’s suit.

“Having reposed his complete faith in his stepdaughter, Mr. McNeal disproportionately contributed to the property’s improvements, as a result of which it was sold for net proceeds exceeding the sum of $490,000.” McNeal claims in his suit that Lorraine has refused to deliver his share of the profits.

He’s seeking an injunction to restrain her disposition of assets and a declaration that he is a holder of an equitable interest in any properties she has acquired with his funds in addition to general, punitive, aggravated and exemplary damages.

In a response filed in court, Lorraine denies McNeal’s allegations and says she bought the property with the intention that it would become her residence.

“The property was not purchased with a view to ‘flipping’ it,” she says in her response.

Lorraine, an administrative assistant, says McNeal does not hold a “beneficial” interest in the property and there was no agreement with respect to sharing expenses, profits or losses equally regarding the property.

She says she hasn’t breached any contract with McNeal, did not own the property subject to a trust in favour of him and does not owe him a fiduciary duty as alleged.

“The defendant has not been unjustly enriched as alleged or at all,” says her response. “The plaintiff has not sustained any loss, damage or expense caused by the defendant as alleged, or at all.”

Lorraine says she was reluctant to take on the level of financing required to purchase the property but was encouraged to do so by McNeal, and claims McNeal informed her that he would help her if necessary.

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Two men who initially avoided incarceration after being convicted of assaulting a police officer have had jail sentences imposed on them following an appeal by the Crown.

In January, Leon Francis Leclerc, 47, and Jerry Lee Lamar, 52, received conditional sentences of two years less a day and two years probation after pleading guilty to the July 2014 assault of Kamloops RCMP Const. Paul Koester.

The assault happened on a rural road near Pritchard, east of Kamloops, after Koester stopped a truck towing a boat with an expired insurance decal on the boat trailer.

Koster suspected that Lamar, the driver of the vehicle, was impaired and demanded a breath sample from him.

When Lamar refused to provide a sample, Koester tried to arrest him, resulting in an altercation in which Lamar got on top of Koester and punched him. Leclerc intervened in the struggle and stomped on Koester as Lamar continued to punch the officer.

Koester was knocked unconscious and left on the side of the road as his two assailants got into the truck and drove away.

The officer, who suffered a concussion in the attack, was helped by a passerby within a minute or two. He was off work for about a month and after returning to work had sensitivity to light for about two weeks.

In imposing conditional sentences on the two men, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Dev Dley found there were exceptional circumstances that tipped the balance away from a jail sentence.

He cited a number of factors, including Lamar’s remorse, his lack of a prior criminal record, his mother’s reliance on his assistance and the negative impact incarceration would have on his business and his employees.

But following an appeal by the Crown, a three-judge panel of the B.C. Court of Appeal found that the judge erred in characterizing the circumstances as exceptional.

“These circumstances simply are not exceptional, unusual or special,” B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Mary Saunders said in her reasons for judgment.

“While remorse and lack of a criminal record are mitigating circumstances, they are common and do not rise to any unusual level. Nor do I consider that the negative effect of incarceration on Mr. Lamar’s family and employees described by the judge can be characterized that way.”

Saunders said the circumstances of Leclerc also failed to support a conditional sentence for him.

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She said that Dley also erred in his consideration of the aggravating factors in the case, which included that it was an assault of a police officer in the lawful execution of his duties, that it was a two-on-one attack and that the two men left the scene knowing the officer was injured and unattended in a rural area.

The aggravating factors should have been considered in determining whether the gravity of the offence and responsibility of the offenders in all of the circumstances, given the objectives of denunciation and deterrence, militated in favour of a conditional sentence order, said Saunders.

“It was an error in principle, in my view, that this did not happen.”

Saunders substituted a sentence of 12 months in jail for Lamar and 15 months in jail Leclerc. Her ruling was given out orally on June 5 with written reasons posted at the court’s website Wednesday.

Justice Mary Newbury and Justice David Tysoe agreed with Saunders’ ruling.

On Oct. 29, 2005, Koester, then working at the Houston RCMP detachment, fatally shot a 22-year-old millworker named Ian Bush in the detachment’s interview room. A police investigation concluded that Koester had acted in self-defence and no charges were laid.

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A young man who crashed his Mercedes at speeds of up to 250 km/h into the front yard of a home in a tony Vancouver neighbourhood has avoided jail time.

Yue Hui Wang, who was 18 at the time of the collision and is now 21, on Thursday received a suspended sentence with two years of probation and a three-year driving ban. In November he had pleaded guilty to one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

Before the April, 2015 accident, Wang had offered to drive a teenage friend he’d been hanging out with in Richmond back to the teen’s home. The parents of the teen wanted him home quickly.

Driving the high-performance 2015 Mercedes C63 Coupe that had recently been purchased for him by his mother, Wang crossed one of the bridges into Vancouver at speeds his friend later estimated to be at between 160 and 180 km/h.

“They turned west onto Southwest Marine Drive in Vancouver, and that is the last thing that (the friend) remembers before waking up in the totalled Mercedes, enmeshed in the trees in front of 2206 Marine Drive,” according to a statement of facts filed in court.

The crash site on Southwest Marine Drive.

The caretaker of the property was awoken by his children, who had heard a loud bang. He went to the window and listened but didn’t hear anything and went back to bed but got up later and went back to the window, hearing a very quiet voice saying, ‘Help.’

Shortly thereafter police, firefighters and paramedics arrived and the two young men had to be extracted from the Mercedes and taken to Vancouver General Hospital. Wang had initially been knocked out by the collision, while his friend suffered a number of injuries requiring 17 days of hospitalization.

Police later obtained a warrant and seized the vehicle’s airbag “control module” which indicated that the Mercedes had been moving at 253 km/h in the seconds before the collision.

Crown counsel Mark Myhre argued that a 90-day jail term was needed for denunciation and deterrence of the crime, while defence lawyer Michael Klein called for a suspended sentence, saying that the crime was a “one-off” incident for his client, who was otherwise a law-abiding person.

In imposing sentence, Provincial Court Judge David St. Pierre noted that it was fortunate that neither of the young men were killed and said that people that are inexperienced drivers and young shouldn’t get a “pass,” adding that Wang had shown a reckless disregard for the safety of others.

“Having said all that, what’s the appropriate sentence for someone like this? That’s the hardest thing a judge has to decide.”

St. Pierre said that the crime had taken up a “very small fraction” of Wang’s life and the rest of the time he probably was taking care of the people around him and acting appropriately and living the life of a decent citizen.

“He’s not a bad actor. In the colloquial sense, he’s committed a bad act.”

The judge said a criminal conviction provided significant denunciation and noted the potential immigration consequences for Wang, a Chinese citizen with permanent residency status in Canada who faces possible deportation as a result of the conviction.

Wang was charged on March 9, 2016, and arrested nearly two weeks later after returning to Canada to be sworn in as a citizen.

The probation conditions for Wang include that he complete 200 hours of community work service.

Wang, who was wearing a suit and tie, had earlier apologized to the judge for his actions and promised not to commit any further crimes.

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A Port Coquitlam man who showed up at a police station and confessed that he had shot his wife has been found guilty of second-degree murder.

Irinel Ghiorghita, 41, claimed at trial that he was in a state of “automatism” at the time he shot and killed his wife Andra, 38, and that his actions were not voluntary but on Friday a judge rejected those arguments and found him guilty as charged.

“I find that the defence has not met the burden of establishing on a balance of probability that Mr. Ghiorghita had acted involuntarily when he shot Andra Ghiorghita,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Pearlman said. “The presumption of voluntariness is not rebutted.”

The trial heard that the couple, who were married in Romania in 2001 and immigrated to Canada with their young son in 2007, were undergoing marital difficulties at the time of the July 15, 2014 shooting.

Ghiorghita was under stress after learning that his wife was unfaithful to him and that she wanted to have sole custody of their son.

On the day of the shooting, the accused went to the local police detachment and told an officer that he’d done something bad and had shot his wife.

Three police officers were dispatched to the couple’s townhouse on Davies Avenue and forced open the front door. Inside, they found the victim’s body on the bed in the master bedroom. The accused had shot her eight times with his 9 mm semi-automatic firearm.

But Ghiorghita testified that he had only a fragmented memory of the events on the day of the shooting. He didn’t remember seeing the gun or where he found the gun case and did not remember loading the gun.

While he remembered the sound of a shot and the sound of screaming, he didn’t remember who was screaming.

Ghiorghita’s lawyers, Lawrence Myers and Zachary Myers, arranged for a psychiatrist to examine the accused and prepare a report.

The psychiatrist testified that Ghiorghita was in a “dissociative state of automatism” induced by the cumulative events of the breakup of his marriage, his sense of betrayal at his wife and the prospect of losing his son. The defence lawyers argued that due to the involuntary nature of his actions, he should be acquitted.

But the Crown argued that although Ghiorghita was experiencing stress and anxiety, his actions were an expression of anger and shooting his wife eight times when she was lying on her bed was not an involuntary act.

In his ruling, the judge said there was evidence to show that right around the time of the shooting the accused was engaged in activities showing normal mental functioning, including composing and sending an email to his mother.

“I also take into account that in order to carry out the shooting, Mr. Ghiorghita had to go to the gun safe, unlock it, remove the case containing the pistol, load the magazine, insert the magazine into the handgun, walk upstairs and then discharge the rounds,” said the judge.

Pearlman said that while he accepted the evidence that a person in a dissociative state is capable of performing organized and directed activities, the accused had engaged in a series of relatively complex organized, directed activities.

“In my view those sequences of activities weigh against a finding that Mr. Ghiorghita acted involuntarily in a state of automatism when he repeatedly shot Andra Ghiorghita.”

The judge said he was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused meant to cause the death of his wife and was therefore guilty of second-degree murder.

The accused, who sat quietly in the prisoner’s dock during the proceedings in a Vancouver courtroom, had little reaction to the verdict.

The offence of second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with between 10 and 25 years of parole ineligibility. A sentencing hearing scheduled for Aug. 24 will deal with the issue of parole eligibility.

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A former piano teacher who sexually assaulted five of his female students has been sentenced to 75 days in jail, to be followed by a 21-month conditional sentence order and one year of probation.

In February, Yung Ping David Chen, 69, a highly regarded teacher in the Asian community, was convicted of the offences that occurred during lessons he gave at his Vancouver home.

The crimes involved girls between the ages of 11 and 19 and spanned a period of 19 years, from 1994 to 2013. None of the victims can be identified due to a publication ban imposed in the case.

Most of the offences involved Chen touching the breasts of his victims over their clothes and did not involve physical violence, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Murray said as she imposed sentence Monday.

“Without trivializing his offences, it is of note that the assaults were at the minor end of the scale of sexual assault,” said the judge.

Murray found that the aggravating factors included that the offences involved a serious breach of trust by a man who had a reputation for being a fine piano teacher.

“In many cases the students were young. All of them were under considerable pressure from their parents to excel at piano, something that was important in the culture and their families,” said the judge.

“Most of these girls found it difficult and indeed impossible to tell their families about what was going on. Instead, they suffered silently, trying to think of ways to stop him.”

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The mitigating factors included that Chen had no prior criminal record, was not seen to be a pedophile according to a report prepared by a psychologist and was at a low risk to re-offend.

In addition, the judge found that Chen was suffering from major depression from the charges and conviction and had significant support from family and friends.

“Mr. Chen stands before me a shattered man, once very proud. He is now stooped over, ashamed and humiliated. His piano teaching days are over, his way of earning a living done.”

One of the girls provided a victim impact statement that said she felt violated and uncomfortable by Chen’s crimes but that she and her family forgave Chen and hoped he’d come away a better person.

All but one of the offences committed by Chen occurred before Parliament prohibited conditional sentences to be served in the community for sex crimes against children.

The judge said in all of the circumstances, she was satisfied that Chen would not pose a risk to others by serving much of his sentence in the community.

She said that a conditional sentence order would also provide sufficient denunciation and deterrence of the crimes.

The conditions include that the first three months be served under house arrest, that he have no contact with the victims and that he not teach piano to anyone under the age of 16.

Chen was also ordered to provide a DNA sample and to remain on the sex offender registry for 20 years.

The Crown had sought a sentence of 40 to 44 months in jail, saying that a lengthy period of incarceration was needed to reflect the moral blameworthiness of the offender and to send a deterrent message to like-minded individuals. Chen’s lawyer had argued for 90 days in jail, a 21-month conditional sentence order and two to three years of probation.

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A B.C. man who pleaded guilty to helping smuggle two people across the border into Canada has received a six-month conditional sentence.

In July 2016, Gurmeet Singh entered a guilty plea in B.C. provincial court in Surrey to the offence under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The following month, Judge Kimberley Arthur-Leung sentenced Singh, whose real estate licence had been suspended after the charges were laid, to a 12-month conditional sentence.

He appealed that sentence, arguing that the judge had made a number of errors and that a more appropriate sentence was a conditional discharge.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Frits Verhoeven rejected his appeal arguments but cut the conditional sentence to six months because that was the maximum allowable length of a conditional sentence under the applicable law.

Court heard that Singh, described as a “well-regarded and successful businessman in the Indo-Canadian community,” paid $1,500 to people who smuggled Daler Singh and Nirmal Kaur — close family friends from India he considered his uncle and aunt — across the border from the United States into Canada.

He and his wife had travelled by car to Seattle where they met with the couple, who had arrived on a flight from India.

Singh paid for the couple to stay the night at a motel before the couple paid an additional US$2,000 to the driver of a vehicle to take them north to the Canada-U.S. border at Blaine, where they walked across the unfenced border into Surrey.

On the Canadian side, they were picked up by a woman who transported them to a nearby A&W restaurant where they met up again with Singh and his wife.

After leaving Seattle, Singh and his wife had used their Nexus cards to cross into Canada at the Pacific Highway border crossing at Surrey.

After the two couples, who came from the same village in India, met at the restaurant, they left in Singh’s BMW but were stopped by an RCMP surveillance team and arrested.

“A fair inference is that Mr. Singh’s plan was to have Daler Singh and Nirmal Kaur reside in Canada illegally on an indefinite or perhaps permanent basis,” said Justice Verhoeven in his ruling on the appeal.

Singh, a father of two who was 36 at the time of the sentencing, came to Canada from India in 2004 and became a Canadian citizen in 2011.

On the appeal, Singh’s lawyer argued that the sentencing judge had made several errors, including making a finding that Singh had sought out a person to assist him in bringing in the couple illegally. But Verhoeven rejected those arguments.

“What is clear, in any event, is that Mr. Singh was an active, knowing, and wilful participant in the scheme, and that he had some kind of direct dealings with the smugglers, inasmuch as he admitted that he paid them the $1,500,” said Verhoeven.

Singh’s conditions include that he is to obey a curfew and do 40 hours of community service at any place in the community other than a temple.

Verhoeven’ written ruling on the appeal concerning the December 2014 offence was posted at the court’s website Friday. It was given out orally in January.

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