Prison home for a conspiracy to import coke

Michael Nguyen

Thursday, 22 February, 2018 21:37

UPDATE
Thursday, 22 February, 2018 21:37

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Two Quebecers charged in a broad conspiracy to import 1200 kilograms of cocaine have coped with the “jail at home” on Thursday, while a third preferred to take the path of the cells.

“These sentences are the result of long negotiations, a request Jordan [request for stay of proceedings for unreasonable delay] could have been made “, explained Thursday to the court by the defence lawyer, Gilbert Durant, palais de justice de Montréal.

Eric Lucas, and Salvatore Urso, 46 and 60, as well as Savas Savvidis, 60 years old, came all three to plead guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine. They had been arrested in 2011, following a police investigation of two years.

The criminal organization the accused sought to bring hundreds of kilos of drugs from Latin America to Canada, by plane or boat. And to ensure the feasibility of the project costing millions of dollars, the group wanted to start with a first shipment of 100 kg.

Before the facts

“The conversations [recorded by the police] are striking, [the accused] know what they are talking about,” said the prosecutor to the Crown, Karine Cord.

And if none of the three accused was the mastermind of the plot, they all participated in one way or another, she detailed to the court. The striking police took place before any import takes place.

The accused had to stand trial next month, but they were cut short.

“It is a crime to be extremely serious, extremely serious “, said judge Marie-Josée Di Lallo.

But because of the rules of law, it is the row behind the suggestion of the lawyers to avoid imprisonment two of the accused, especially as the law allowed suspended sentences in 2011.

“That same crime committed today would no longer open [to the suspension], it would be prison,” he said while suggesting that the sentence was lenient.

Lucas and Urso, who was defended by counsel, Noémi Tellier, have been sentenced to two years less a day house arrest and then probation. Lucas will also need to complete 180 hours of community work.

The judge, however, refused to grant them an exemption from punishment for Christmas and the New Year.

Savvidis, for its part, has been sentenced to nine months in prison and two years of probation.