FOUR SENTENCED IN KILLING OF B.C. DRUG MULE

Man collapsed outside bus depot after beating over missing cocaine

Four men admitted yesterday in court to their role in the death of
British Columbia native Graeme Ferguson, a 27-year-old hired as a drug
mule to transport 17 kilograms of pure Colombian cocaine to Ottawa.

Guy Wilson, 38, and Kym Tessier, 20, pleaded guilty to manslaughter
and were sentenced to 10 years in prison. Lafleche Boucher, 21,
pleaded guilty to forcible confinement, extortion and robbery and was
sentenced to 48 months for his role in the abduction of Mr. Ferguson
who was held and beaten in a Montreal warehouse for five days.

A fourth person, Michel Lemarbre, 20, pleaded guilty to manslaughter
and was sentenced to five years in a federal penitentiary. All four
were ordered to provide a DNA sample and are under a 10-year weapons
prohibition.

Court heard that Mr. Ferguson, a Delta, B.C., security guard with no
criminal record, was taken to a dark warehouse on July 14, 2005 over a
botched delivery. He was stripped to his underwear, placed in a chair,
chained by the ankles to an anchor mount on the floor, beaten and had
a gun put to his head.

An agreed statement of facts read out in court said the purpose of the
beating was to get Mr. Ferguson to turn over the cocaine. The men did
not believe his story -- that the drugs had been lost at the bus
station on Catherine Street -- or his concern that he was being
watched by police.

When they were finally convinced, Robin Cote, 40, Mr. Tessier's
father, and Mr. Wilson returned to the bus station on July 19, 2005,
and waited outside while Mr. Ferguson picked up a suitcase containing
drugs from the lost luggage depot. The drugs had an estimated street
value of $3.5 million .

Shortly afterwards, Mr. Ferguson walked out of the bus station and
collapsed. Barely conscious, he told paramedics he had been assaulted.
Then he fell unconscious. He was declared dead on arrival at the
Ottawa Hospital Civic campus.

Ottawa police major crime investigators travelled to B.C. and learned
from Mr. Ferguson's girlfriend that he had made two trips to Ottawa
from Vancouver.

He was paid $3,000 cash for one trip and was to be paid $12,000 for
the trip that ended in his death. When Mr. Ferguson arrived in Ottawa
that second time, he saw police around the station, walked away from
his suitcases and returned to B.C. He returned to Ottawa because he
was worried about the failed delivery and was being pressured to
return the suitcases. As it turned out, police were never on to him.

Justice Ann Alder said she agreed with the joint sentence and
considered the fact that Mr. Wilson, Mr. Tessier and Mr. Boucher, by
pleading guilty, showed "some level of acknowledgement and
responsibility and some level of remorse."

She said it is clear the beating was planned. "You don't happen to
have a warehouse equipped to torture people. This was all about greed,
all about drugs," she said.

"It suffices to say there was a horrendous amount of brutality. I
can't imagine the fear or pain" endured by Mr. Ferguson.

Mr. Ferguson's mother, Marlyn Ferguson, tearfully read a victim impact
statement before Judge Alder sentenced the men. She described how the
Delta police went to her husband's, Ian, workplace on July 20, 2005,
to tell him his son was killed. She said he told the officer it must
have been a mistake because his son was not in Ottawa.

"We feel loneliness, knowing we will never see our son again," said
Mrs. Ferguson. "Never see his beautiful smile and feel his kindness."

Mr. Cote is still wanted by police. Paul Layoun, 27, is also wanted in
connection with Mr. Ferguson's death. Anyone with information is asked
to call Crime Stoppers at 613-233-TIPS or Ottawa police at
613-236-1222.

Outside the courtroom, Mrs. Ferguson said her family is satisfied with
the outcome of the case, and grateful to Ottawa police and the Crown's
office.

"Our son, Graeme, made a terrible mistake and paid the ultimate
price," she said.