'WICKED' ABUSE OF ESTRANGED WIFE LANDS MAN IN JAIL

Drugs Planted In Bags Before Thai Vacation

EDMONTON -- A car salesman who tormented his estranged wife with
threats and phone calls and planted drugs in her luggage just before
she was to fly to Thailand has been sentenced to eight months in jail.

"It was terribly, terribly wicked," provincial court Judge Albert
Chrumka told James Green on Friday.

Suzanne Green discovered two bags of marijuana and a pill bottle of
cocaine in her bags before getting on a plane in Edmonton last Jan. 19.

She reported the event to Leduc RCMP but was later handcuffed and
arrested when she arrived at the Vancouver airport. Her husband had
phoned police there, leaving an anonymous tip that a woman named
Suzanne Green was carrying drugs.

Suzanne had purchased new luggage in Vancouver, on the advice of a
Leduc officer, but drug-sniffing dogs identified residue in her
belongings.

After considerable questioning and phone calls to Leduc, police
confirmed the bizarre tale and she was released.

Suzanne initially planned to take another flight the next day, since
her holiday was pre-paid. But she broke down after realizing the
enormity of what had happened, said Crown prosecutor Mark Huyser-
Wierenga.

Drug smuggling is punishable by death in Thailand.

"I made a mistake," Green, 44, told the judge after pleading guilty
to a charge of criminal harassment and two counts of breaching court
orders.

"I have accepted the fact my marriage is over. There will be no
further incidents."

In court documents, Green admitted he either broke into his wife's
home and planted the drugs in the bags the day before her trip, or
had someone else do it on his behalf.

He also admitted to harassing Suzanne after the couple separated in
2004.

When Suzanne started dating another man, Green threatened to kill him
and told his wife to "put 911 on speed dial."

"You have no idea what I'm capable of," he told her.

Suzanne got an emergency protection order from the courts in January
2006.

A few weeks after the luggage fiasco, police arrested Green for
violating the court order by walking towards Suzanne outside the
courthouse.

He was arrested again a month later for breaching bail by driving by
her house.

"I continue to struggle with my peace of mind," Suzanne, a 43-year-
old nurse, told the court.

She said the couple's two sons, aged 14 and 17, are confused and
worried. Although she has had a security system and video
surveillance cameras installed in her home, she routinely wears a
panic button around her neck.

Defence lawyer Dan Chivers said a psychiatrist determined Green is
not physically dangerous.

"I don't believe the doctor," said Suzanne. "I have had his hands
around my neck.

"I don't know how far he's going to go."

Huyser-Wierenga asked for an 18-month sentence, but Chrumka said
Green deserves 22 months, less 14 months credit for time spent in
pretrial custody.

Chrumka also gave Green three years' probation, which requires him to
stay away from his wife and move out of the west-end neighbourhood
where she also lives. He must also attend counselling and take
programs addressing domestic violence and anger management.