CROWN WANTS DRUG FELON JAILED

Busted for shipping millions of dollars worth of pot through
Saskatchewan's borders, Daren Wayne Smith is now on parole from his
six-year prison sentence imposed last year -- but not for much longer
if the Crown has its way.

"There has never been a case of this magnitude in this province,"
federal Crown prosecutor Wade McBride told the Saskatchewan Court of
Appeal on Thursday in seeking to boost Smith's sentence. The
42-year-old was a key player in a drug exportation scheme that saw in
excess of $10 million worth of "B.C. bud" hauled across the
Saskatchewan-U.S. border.

But Calgary defence lawyer Christopher Leveque said his client was
granted day parole in June from the sentence, originally imposed in
March 2006, and there's no point now in sending him back to prison.

"He has done his time," Leveque contended. Because of credit for
pre-trial custody, Smith's effective sentence was actually closer to
five years. Federal offenders are eligible for full parole at
one-third of their sentence, and day parole eligibility -- when
offenders typically move into a half-way house -- is six months
before that date.

"He's out. He's working. He's trying to reconnect with his family,"
Leveque told court.

Whether or not Smith can continue on that path is now in the hands of
appeal court Justices Georgina Jackson, Gene Anne Smith and Ysanne
Wilkinson. The judges initially adjourned for 15 minutes to mull over
the matter, but then sent word that their decision was reserved. A
written decision will be issued at a later, unspecified date.

Daren Smith, who did not attend the appeal hearing, was convicted in
December 2006 of seven charges: possession of marijuana for the
purpose of exporting, exporting marijuana, possession for the purpose
of trafficking, trafficking, possession of proceeds of crime, and two
criminal organization charges. The offences occurred between July 1,
2001, and June 22, 2002.

The scheme was uncovered on June 20, 2002 when a U.S. border patrol
officer stopped a van near an illegal border crossing near Lake Alma
in southern Saskatchewan.

The van, rented by Smith, was carrying 391 pounds of pot packaged in
Ziploc bags, and stuffed in nine hockey bags. The drugs were worth
more than $1 million.

When authorities raided Smith's B.C. home two days later, they found
a suitcase packed with $568,170 Cdn and $119,920 US.

The trial heard from witnesses who said Smith hired and paid them to
haul drugs from B.C. to Saskatchewan, across the illegal border
crossing dubbed "North Star," and into the U.S. The Crown estimated
there were about a dozen trips, with as much as 5,000 pounds of pot moved.

The Crown had originally sought a prison sentence in excess of 10
years, while the defence argued for four.

In his appeal, McBride argued six years "is probably the starting
point" in this unprecedented case. The commercial operation moved the
largest amount of drugs ever through this province.

He suggested Justice Ted Zarzeczny, who sentenced Smith, didn't
sufficiently consider deterrence and denunciation, or that Smith
participated in a criminal organization.

He contended Zarzeczny had also erred in not ordering Smith to serve
half his prison sentence -- instead of the usual one-third -- before
being eligible to seek parole.

Leveque urged the judges to consider if the sentence was demonstrably
unfit given Smith's role. He rented the vehicles and arranged for the
drug couriers.

"Mr. Smith is certainly not the top man in the organization. He is,
in fact, a middleman," he said, adding that six years isn't lenient.
"It's extremely harsh."

Although Smith forfeited his ill-gotten cash, about $200,000 of the
seized money was used to pay his legal bills.

McBride argued Smith should be fined in lieu of forfeiting those funds.

"The wrongdoer is not to have benefitted from the proceeds of his
crime," he said.

But Leveque said the law allowed Smith to use that money to pay a
lawyer, and he shouldn't face an additional sanction for doing so. If
Smith is fined for the $200,000, it will likely mean additional jail
time because he can't pay.