STUDENT COULD FACE 13 YEARS IN U.S. PRISON

Hamilton Woman Ordered Extradited On Drug Charges

A 23-year-old college student from Hamilton could face a minimum
13-year prison sentence after a judge ordered yesterday the woman's
extradition to Florida to stand trial on marijuana- and
ecstasy-smuggling charges.

Jennifer Ridge will receive a lengthy sentence -- if she is ultimately
convicted -- as a result of strict drug laws in the United States. The
equivalent offence in Canada for someone such as Ms. Ridge, who has no
criminal record, would normally result in a sentence of about three
years in prison.

Ms. Ridge is alleged to be a low-level "mule" in a Hamilton-based
group that was reputedly part of a larger drug-smuggling ring smashed
last year in a joint U.S.-Canada investigation known as Operation
Candy Box. More than 140 people were arrested in both countries, with
the alleged operational and financial masterminds of the drug ring
based in Toronto and Ottawa.

Ms. Ridge was arrested along with her then-boyfriend, Tuan Van Pham,
in March, 2004, a few weeks after U.S. agents "surreptitiously seized"
her car in Buffalo. About 30,000 ecstacy tablets and approximately
four kilograms of marijuana were found in the car, according to
documents filed in Ontario Superior Court.

The potential U.S. sentence is "out of proportion" to the alleged
crime, said Ms. Ridge's lawyer, Heather McArthur, who suggested that
it should not "result in the loss of 13 years of a young life."

The Mohawk College business student is alleged to have made regular
trips with Mr. Pham to Florida to smuggle the drugs. Mr. Pham is
accused of being a high-level member of the drug ring. The allegations
in the extradition documents also suggest there is more evidence that
Ms. Ridge was aware of the marijuana smuggling and not necessarily the
ecstacy smuggling.

Ms. Ridge had been free on bail for 14 months. She was ordered into
custody yesterday by Superior Court Justice Sandra Chapnik, who signed
the committal order for Ms. Ridge's extradition.

The young woman left home in Hamilton at the age of 16 and ended up
with the "wrong crowd," at a bar where she worked, Ms. McArthur said
yesterday.

Ms. Ridge has re-connected with her family and just finished her
second year of a business program at Mohawk College in Hamilton.

The federal Justice Minister must approve any extradition request, and
Ms. McArthur said she hopes Irwin Cotler "will look at all the
circumstances" of her client's case.

"He could refuse [to sign] on humanitarian grounds," said Ms.
McArthur, or decline to extradite Ms. Ridge on the ecstasy charge,
which by itself carries a 10-year minimum sentence.

Ms. McArthur said her client has the support of her family and even
her high school English teacher, who wrote a letter to the court on
behalf of her former student. The potential U.S. prison sentence is
"overwhelming" for the family, said her 19-year-old sister, Jaime-Lee
Ridge.

Ms. Ridge now has 30 days to make legal submissions to Mr. Cotler
before he makes any decision on the extradition order.