Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Canada - An accused helicopter pot smuggler has been ordered extradited to the United States to face drug charges in that country similar to ones dropped in Canada.
Dustin Haugen, a former associate of Abbotsford's Bacon brothers, was arrested after a recent ruling by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Selwyn Romilly.
Haugen filed an appeal last week of Romilly's ruling and has requested a new bail hearing, which has not yet taken place.
Haugen was charged in Chilliwack in 2006, after he and Daryl Desjardins were allegedly caught moving 135 kilograms of pot into Washington state in a Jet Ranger helicopter.
Police on both sides of the border were watching and taping the movement of the helicopter on May 9, 2006. U.S. authorities intercepted the pot after stopping a truck in Washington they say met the helicopter. When Haugen and Desjardins returned to their Harrison Hot Springs base, they were arrested by the RCMP.
Desjardins, now 48, pleaded guilty in an agreement that included dropping the charges against his younger co-accused, who is now 28.
But after the charges were stayed in Canada, the U.S. Attorney sought Haugen's extradition in connection with the same May 2006 smuggling operation.
Haugen's lawyers said it was a violation of their client's Charter rights to have him face charges in the U.S. after they had been dropped in Canada. But Romilly disagreed.
"There is no suggestion that Crown counsel entered the stay on the offences in order to allow these extradition proceedings to be undertaken by the requesting state," Romilly said.
Desjardins received a four-year sentence and is already out on parole.
Romilly noted that even though Desjardins was more involved in the smuggling plot, "if Haugen is convicted in the requesting state, there is a strong likelihood that his sentence would be much more severe than the sentence imposed on Desjardins."
"If Haugen is convicted of the offences by the requesting state, the parole considerations would not be as flexible as those in Canada," he said.
"If Haugen is convicted of the offences by the requesting state, the possibility of being allowed to serve any portion of his sentence in Canada seems remote."
But Romilly said it is ultimately up to the federal justice minister to decide whether the Charter rights of a requested person have been violated -- not the extradition judge.
"Following committal, the matter reverts to the minister who reviews the case in its entirety to determine whether to order the individual's surrender and, if so, on what basis," Romilly said.
Haugen's lawyers also argued that the U.S. Attorney had not provided sufficient evidence to link the Abbotsford man into the smuggling plot.
They said the link between the truck in which the marijuana was found and the helicopter is circumstantial.
Romilly said the defence lawyers were trying to get him to "evaluate each item of evidence on a piecemeal basis without regard to the cumulative effect of the whole of the evidence."
"On the whole of the evidence, an inference could easily be made that the GMC pickup stopped by police was the same vehicle in contact with the helicopter on the ground," he said.
Haugen crashed another Bell Ranger helicopter back in March 2005 that he was flying from a landing site leased by Jonathan Bacon. Haugen's girlfriend, Christina Alexander, was killed.
Desjardins and Haugen were charged as part of a massive cross-border probe of helicopter smuggling dubbed Operation Frozen Timber.
NewsHawk: User: 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: vancouversun.com
Author: Kim Bolan
Copyright: 2010 Canwest Publishing Inc
Contact: Contact Us - Vancouver Sun
Website: Accused pot smuggler ordered extradited to the U.S.
Dustin Haugen, a former associate of Abbotsford's Bacon brothers, was arrested after a recent ruling by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Selwyn Romilly.
Haugen filed an appeal last week of Romilly's ruling and has requested a new bail hearing, which has not yet taken place.
Haugen was charged in Chilliwack in 2006, after he and Daryl Desjardins were allegedly caught moving 135 kilograms of pot into Washington state in a Jet Ranger helicopter.
Police on both sides of the border were watching and taping the movement of the helicopter on May 9, 2006. U.S. authorities intercepted the pot after stopping a truck in Washington they say met the helicopter. When Haugen and Desjardins returned to their Harrison Hot Springs base, they were arrested by the RCMP.
Desjardins, now 48, pleaded guilty in an agreement that included dropping the charges against his younger co-accused, who is now 28.
But after the charges were stayed in Canada, the U.S. Attorney sought Haugen's extradition in connection with the same May 2006 smuggling operation.
Haugen's lawyers said it was a violation of their client's Charter rights to have him face charges in the U.S. after they had been dropped in Canada. But Romilly disagreed.
"There is no suggestion that Crown counsel entered the stay on the offences in order to allow these extradition proceedings to be undertaken by the requesting state," Romilly said.
Desjardins received a four-year sentence and is already out on parole.
Romilly noted that even though Desjardins was more involved in the smuggling plot, "if Haugen is convicted in the requesting state, there is a strong likelihood that his sentence would be much more severe than the sentence imposed on Desjardins."
"If Haugen is convicted of the offences by the requesting state, the parole considerations would not be as flexible as those in Canada," he said.
"If Haugen is convicted of the offences by the requesting state, the possibility of being allowed to serve any portion of his sentence in Canada seems remote."
But Romilly said it is ultimately up to the federal justice minister to decide whether the Charter rights of a requested person have been violated -- not the extradition judge.
"Following committal, the matter reverts to the minister who reviews the case in its entirety to determine whether to order the individual's surrender and, if so, on what basis," Romilly said.
Haugen's lawyers also argued that the U.S. Attorney had not provided sufficient evidence to link the Abbotsford man into the smuggling plot.
They said the link between the truck in which the marijuana was found and the helicopter is circumstantial.
Romilly said the defence lawyers were trying to get him to "evaluate each item of evidence on a piecemeal basis without regard to the cumulative effect of the whole of the evidence."
"On the whole of the evidence, an inference could easily be made that the GMC pickup stopped by police was the same vehicle in contact with the helicopter on the ground," he said.
Haugen crashed another Bell Ranger helicopter back in March 2005 that he was flying from a landing site leased by Jonathan Bacon. Haugen's girlfriend, Christina Alexander, was killed.
Desjardins and Haugen were charged as part of a massive cross-border probe of helicopter smuggling dubbed Operation Frozen Timber.
NewsHawk: User: 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: vancouversun.com
Author: Kim Bolan
Copyright: 2010 Canwest Publishing Inc
Contact: Contact Us - Vancouver Sun
Website: Accused pot smuggler ordered extradited to the U.S.
