ADDICT GETS HIS WISH: MORE TIME IN PRISON

Longer Sentence Offers Better Drug Treatment

EDMONTON - A drug addict who led police on a high-speed chase asked a judge
for a stiffer sentence Thursday.

Robert Gordon Sadowsky got his wish: two years in a federal prison.

Defence lawyer Laurie Wood said her 25-year-old client will have access to
better treatment programs for his methamphetamine addiction in the federal
system rather than in a provincial jail.

Provincial court Judge Paul Adilman said he was prepared to hand Sadowsky
15 to 18 months but granted the request for two years.

An inmate who receives a sentence of less than two years must serve the
time in a provincial jail.

Wood said many of her clients request prison for different reasons. If
they're first-time federal offenders, they can be fast-tracked for
community release.

Besides better treatment and education courses, they're eligible for work
programs. They're also allowed to smoke.

Adilman said the high-speed chase is still a dangerous crime, one that he
sees all too often in his courtroom.

"It's another one of these chases where so many people are put in
jeopardy," Adilman said.

Police spotted Sadowsky behind the wheel of a stolen Plymouth Acclaim in a
gas station parking lot at 107th Avenue and 115th Street shortly after 9
p.m. on Sept. 9, 2004.

Officers followed the car and tried to box it in a few blocks away, but
Sadowsky sped off, racing through stop signs and red lights throughout
downtown at speeds up to 90 kilometres per hour. He nearly struck two
police cars before a senior officer called off the chase.

Sadowsky and two passengers in the car were later arrested when the car
stopped at 109th Street and 104th Avenue and they fled on foot.

Sadowsky pleaded guilty in December to evading police, possession of stolen
property and driving while disqualified.

At the time of the chase, Sadowsky had a suspended licence for drunk
driving. In addition to the two-year sentence, Adilman handed him a
two-year driving suspension.