PRISON GUARD PLEADS GUILTY

A Port Coquitlam prison guard has pleaded guilty to obstruction of
justice and accepting a bribe as an officer for his involvement in
springing a notorious Persian crime boss from jail in November.

Edwin Ticne, 35, appeared briefly in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver
Friday to enter the pleas in connection with the escape of Omid
Tahvili -- a gangster convicted of kidnapping and torturing a man for
$350,000 in drug money -- from the North Fraser Pretrial Centre on
Nov. 15.

The PoCo guard had originally been charged with four counts under the
Criminal Code: wilfully permitting a person to escape from lawful custody
while an officer or employee in a prison; failing to perform a legal duty by
permitting a person whom they have in lawful custody to escape; obstruction
of justice; and bribery of an officer.

On Friday, Ticne, wearing a suit and tie, quietly entered two guilty
pleas before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask.

Outside court, Ticne's lawyer, Reg Harris, explained that his client
had decided not to go to trial, which had been scheduled for June.

"It's acceptance, recognition of what he's done is wrong," he said.
"It's the right thing to do in his eyes."

Ticne is to be sentenced June 4 in Supreme Court in New Westminster,
but Harris declined to say what sort of a sentence he will seek.

Leask ordered a report prior to the sentencing.

Two other charges laid against Ticne, including permitting an escape
as a prison official and permitting an escape, will not go ahead.

Ticne, a father of one, has worked for B.C. Corrections for 10 years
and is the first guard in B.C. ever to be charged with helping a
prisoner escape. He was released on $100,000 surety and will remain on
bail until sentencing.

Tahvili remains on the lam, despite having been sentenced in absentia
to six years and two months for kidnapping, use of an imitation
firearm, assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault and uttering threats.

It was during Tahvili's sentence hearing in the New Westminster Law
Courts last fall that the sequence of events leading to his escape was
revealed via video footage.

Surveillance images taken in the late evening of Nov. 14 at the North
Fraser Pretrial Centre show Ticne walking across the jail's common
room to where a janitor's closet was located, disappearing for a
moment and returning shortly after carrying a roll of toilet paper. At
9:37 p.m., Tahvili walks toward the same spot wearing the usual prison
garb.

Tahvili wasn't spotted by cameras again for almost two hours, when he
walked out of the same spot dressed in the dark polo shirt, cargo
pants, hats and latex gloves worn by janitors.

Footage later showed Tahvili meeting with Ticne, and then the pair
walking through four secure doors -- and Tahvili walking out the
prison's main doors.

North Fraser staff alerted RCMP at 9:30 p.m. that day that Tahvili was
missing during one of the centre's five formal headcounts.

A Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued for Tahvili, a North
Vancouver man who police believe is highly ranked in Persian gang hierarchy.

According to RCMP, Tahvili is also facing extradition to the United
States in connection with telemarketing frauds.