COPS FUME AS PUSHER FREED

15-Year Term In Venezuela Became 30 Months

The Toronto Police Association is outraged that a drug trafficker
sentenced to 15 years in jail is being released to a halfway house
after serving only 30 months.

Mark Anthony Kane, 28, of Toronto, was sentenced in Venezuela to 15
years in January 1997 after being found guilty of drug
trafficking.

He was transferred back to Canada to serve his sentence in May 1998 as
part of a federal prisoner exchange program, which allows convicts to
complete their sentences in their home countries.

Police and correctional officials said the program has become a
springboard for cons to return home and obtain early release.

Carol Sparling, of the National Parole Board, said Kane is being
released to a Toronto halfway house this week. "He's a first-time
federal offender," Sparling said.

"The board made a decision to accelerate his day parole."

The board said there are no grounds to believe Kane would commit an
offence if released. They also said Kane has no prior criminal record
other than in Venezuela and he doesn't have a history of violence.

But Jack Ritchie, vice-president of the Toronto Police Association,
said the prisoner transfer program has become an early-release program
for Canadians committing crimes abroad.

"This is justice at its worst," Ritchie said. "I am outraged that he's
being released already into the community."

He said Kane should serve five years, or one-third of his
sentence.