DRIVER PLEADS GUILTY TO SMUGGLING POT

Man Latest Person Linked To Company To Attract Police Notice

It was just after 11 p.m. on April 3 at the Blaine border crossing and
Student Pro Movers driver Kevin Yensen's hand shook as he passed over the
paperwork to get into the U.S.

He was nervous and the guards noticed.

They searched Yensen's truck and found more than 283 kilograms of
marijuana, bagged, vacuum-sealed and stuffed into six couches.

Yensen, the father of a young son and engaged to be married to his
girlfriend of four years, pleaded guilty last week to one count of
importing marijuana and is to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in
Seattle on Nov. 4.

He faces up to 20 years in jail and a fine of up to $1 million US.

Yensen is an eight-month employee of Student Pro, which is owned by
Guiseppe Bugge. Bugge was the victim of an alleged drug-related extortion
attempt in June.

Hugo Filipe Amado and Paul Vaslot are facing charges of kidnapping,
forcible confinement, assault and extortion for their alleged roles.

Bugge, whose Burrard Street convenience store has been targeted, has
disappeared.

About the time Yensen was arrested in Washington state, customers of
Student Pro from as far away as Alaska and Texas were reporting their goods
had never arrived. One customer, who finally retrieved her property from a
storage facility, noticed the lining on her couch was slit.

When U.S. customs officers contacted the Californian woman whose name
appeared on the truck manifest Yensen handed over that night, she told them
her signature was forged.

Her invoice did not match the one submitted by Yensen.

"[Yensen], like all professional truck drivers, is expected to know the
contents of his van and to ensure that shipping lists correctly describe
the contents," court documents say. "Furthermore, [Yensen] can hardly
distance himself from the contents of this particular truck. The moving van
was registered and insured in [Yensen's] name as the 'principal operator.'
For all intents and purposes, this was [Yensen's] van. He also admitted
that he loaded the sofas containing the marijuana, each of which was
unusually heavy, weighing approximately 100 pounds more than it should."

Yensen's mom, Jeanette Yensen of Logan Lake, said her son has never been in
this kind of trouble before.

"I would like him home," she said. "We're just rolling with the punches."

In character reference letters to the court, Yensen's family and friends
described him as a caring father, a quiet man with a heart who would never
knowingly commit the crime he pleaded guilty to.

Nobody in the family believes Yensen would have driven the truck that night
if he knew what he was hauling.

His guilty plea, said his fiancee, Sherry, was "a gamble."

"I don't imagine him ever putting us in this jeopardy knowingly," said
Sherry, who asked that her last name not be printed.

She spoke briefly to Bugge after Yensen's arrest, but hasn't heard from him
since.

"[Bugge] told me it was the customer [who was responsible for the
marijuana], don't worry, the company will stand behind [Yensen]," she said.

She has since been informed that Student Pro did not cover all of Yensen's
legal fees and is now waiting for a bill she can't afford to pay.