COCAINE TRAFFICKER'S TERM REDUCED ON APPEAL

Court Cites First Nations Man's Rehabilitation

B.C. -- The penalty of a Westbank cocaine trafficker who was sentenced
last month to six months in jail for possessing $10,000 worth of
cocaine has been reduced to a four-month conditional sentence by the
B.C. Court of Appeal.

Francis Lindley, 43, was arrested on Feb. 9 last year while in
possession of cocaine with a total weight of 116 grams and an
estimated street value of $10,000. He also had a document showing
previous one-ounce sales and more than $900 in cash.

Lindley is a member of the Westbank First Nation. He and his two older
brothers own 24 hectares of land along Okanagan Lake, operating a
business that provides outdoor venues for concerts, leases 22 beach
lots and rents billboard space.

The pre-sentence report filed at his sentencing last month said
Lindley experienced a troubled childhood and adolescence, as well as
being dependent in the past on alcohol and crack cocaine.

During sentencing, the judge said: "I have considered the principles
of sentencing, including the fact that aboriginal offenders should be
sent to jail as a last resort. But in this case, you [have] got to do
a bit of jail. There is no getting around it. That bit of jail is six
months, sir. It is the best I can do for you."

On appeal, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Pamela Kirkpatrick considered
that Lindley had already served 37 days of his sentence, had stopped
consuming drugs and was no longer associating with the undesirable
persons he had been involved with at the time of his offence -- and
that Lindley was a first-time offender.

"I do not think his detention is necessary to protect the public or to
deter him from drug-related activity, because the appellant has taken
significant steps in respect of his rehabilitation by ceasing to use
drugs," the judge concluded.

The court set aside the six-month jail sentence and substituted a
four-month conditional sentence to be served in the community. Appeal
Court Justices Risa Levine and Mary Newbury agreed, making the ruling
unanimous.