B.C. DRUG TRAFFICKERS SHOWED REMORSE, JUDGE SAYS

VANCOUVER -- Two associates of the Hells Angels who were convicted of
possession and trafficking of cocaine after an RCMP investigation in
Kelowna were handed jail sentences yesterday.

Madam Justice Anne MacKenzie sentenced David Revell, 44, to five years
in prison and Richard Rempel, 25, to four years.

The judge noted that neither had a criminal record and both had
expressed remorse for their crimes.

Judge MacKenzie noted that Mr. Rempel had committed a minor offence
since his arrest in April, 2005, but that, while deterrence and
denunciation were primary considerations in sentencing, the two had
shown "substantial potential for re-integration into society." Still,
the judge also said that their crimes were "brazen, arrogant offences
motivated by greed.

"In the end the real victim is society," Judge MacKenzie said, adding
that some studies have suggested that 90 per cent of crime is linked
to drugs and drug trafficking.

Mr. Rempel has already served 19 months in custody and will be given
credit at double that, as prescribed by the law. That means his total
remaining sentence is nine months.

Prosecutor Martha Devlin had asked the B.C. Supreme Court judge to
sentence Mr. Rempel to eight years and Mr. Revell to 10 years for
convictions on one count each of possession and one count of
trafficking.

The Crown said the men, neither of whom is a drug addict, were
motivated by profit and greed. During the sentencing hearing, the
Crown described the pair as being at the top of a drug-dealing hierarchy.

In late March, when the two were convicted, an effort by the Crown to
have a full-patch member of the Hells Angels convicted of working for
a criminal organization failed when Judge MacKenzie ruled she didn't
have enough evidence to come to that finding.

The judge ruled the Crown's case against David Giles was weak and she
found him not guilty of a drug offence. As a result, she said she
couldn't find him guilty of the charge of committing an offence as
part of a criminal organization.

The case had been seen as a possible landmark since it might have
resulted in the Hells Angels being labelled in court as a criminal
organization.

Mr. Rempel and Mr. Revell were found guilty of cocaine possession and
guilty of cocaine trafficking, but not guilty of the criminal
organization charge.

The case involved about nine kilograms of cocaine seized from three
locations in Kelowna, B.C., where the Crown alleged the
Vancouver-based East End Hells Angels had moved, calling themselves
the K-Town Crew in order to establish a new chapter and take over the
lucrative illegal drug trade in the Okanagan.