DEALER LOPS OFF MAN'S FINGER OVER DRUG DEBT

Crack House Operator Jailed for Sending a 'Message'

PRINCE GEORGE - Crack house operator Scott Brian Payne sent a
terrorizing message to his drug dealers after one came up $178 short
on payment for a load of crack cocaine.

He chopped a finger off the man in arrears and put it in a box,
apparently for display.

Details of that brutal act in November 2004, and others, are
contained in a judgement by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Glen Parrett,
who sentenced the 24-year-old Payne to eight years in jail. Details
of the judgement were posted on the Supreme Court website Tuesday.

In another act of extortion, Payne stood by while an associate
exacted revenge on another dealer, who was $300 short on a drug
payment. That time the weapon of choice was a medieval-style battle axe.

The September 2005 attack left the victim with significant head
wounds, the court judgement states.

In his judgement, Justice Glen Parrett condemned the tactics.

"These individuals and their organization ... have openly cultivated
an atmosphere and a reputation for extreme violence."

Members of the Prince George drug gang, calling themselves The Crew,
spoke openly about the punishment exacted on associates who didn't
pay on time, Parrett said.

"The discussions of violence and the trophies they take, in the form
of fingers and videos, appear to be the means by which they strive to
maintain discipline and control of their organization," he said.

Parrett took Payne's childhood into account when deciding on an
appropriate sentence.

Abandoned by his mother at age five, Payne was left in the care of
his father, a "brutal and violent" man who has been in and out of
Canadian and American jails all his life.

"At the age of eight, this accused was apparently apprehended off the
streets, where he was struggling to survive," Parrett writes.

He never got past Grade 10.

"Life for this young man has been, in a very real sense, a struggle
for survival, where being tough and taking advantage of people and
situations was for him a necessity," the judgement states.

Payne's criminal record reflects his violent lifestyle. He has a
number of assault and weapons charges, the judge noted.

Ultimately, however, Parrett did not let his sympathy for Payne trump
public safety. He sentenced Payne to eight years for the aggravated
assault and ordered that the two lesser extortion sentences be served
concurrently.

In parting, Parrett told Payne: "I feel very sorry for you, Mr.
Payne, because it is an unenviable background which left you little option."