DRUG-RUNNER IN U.S. JAIL TAKES OTTAWA TO COURT

Government Refuses To Allow Resident To Serve Sentence In Canada

TORONTO - An Ontario resident imprisoned in the United States for his role
in a cross-border drug trafficking ring is taking the federal government to
court for refusing to let him serve the rest of his sentence in Canada.

According to longstanding international treaties, Canadians jailed abroad
are often granted permission to transfer to local penitentiaries, but
Maurizio Catenacci's case exposes a possible loophole that could force
Ottawa to rewrite the laws.

Although he has lived in the Toronto area as a permanent resident since he
was two years old, the Italian national is not a Canadian citizen, so the
government says it is under no obligation to help bring him back.

Catenacci and his wife, Nancy, have asked the Federal Court to overturn
Ottawa's denial, claiming it violates his Charter rights and the rights of
all Canadian permanent residents imprisoned in foreign countries.

"He is Canadian," Mrs. Catenacci said. "Yes, unfortunately he is not a
Canadian on paper, but he is a Canadian in every other sense of the word."

The 40-year-old luxury car salesman first made headlines in December, 2003,
when he pleaded guilty in a Virginia court and was sentenced to 46 months
in prison for conspiring with others to traffic cocaine into Canada.

Among his accomplices indicted in the drug ring was Daniele Cappa,
Catenacci's brother-in-law and a former senior operations manager at
Pearson International Airport.

Authorities discovered that Cappa was using his high-level security
clearance to transport drug money through customs and other checkpoints -
in one instance giving Catenacci US$180,000 to fly to Miami. The cash was
later used to buy cocaine.

Since pleading guilty to a single charge, Catenacci has been locked away at
Ohio's Elkton Federal Correctional Facility.

In January, he applied for permission to return to Canada. American
authorities did not object, but immigration officials here refused to grant
him the necessary travel documents because he is a permanent resident.

According to The International Transfer of Offenders Act, only citizens are
eligible to relocate to Canadian prisons.

Barbara Jackman, Catenacci's lawyer, is demanding that the Act and two
other relevant pieces of legislation be rewritten to give equal standing to
permanent residents. The status quo, she wrote in her court filing, "is
discriminatory and arbitrary."

Mrs. Catenacci said her husband of 16 years came to Canada as a young boy,
but never applied for citizenship because he always assumed his mother had
done it for him.

A father of two sons, Catenacci lived in Newmarket, and was a dedicated
minor hockey coach before being arrested and extradited to the U.S. to face
charges. Until then, he had no criminal record.

He is eligible for parole in August, 2006, but his family hopes the
Canadian government will reverse its decision and allow him to serve the
rest of his sentence closer to home.

"My kids have missed out on a lot not having their dad home," said Mrs.
Catenacci, 38. "We've suffered and it's time to put our family back together."

She said she understands that many Canadians will have little sympathy for
her plight. But she insists her husband "was in the wrong place at the
wrong time," and felt so remorseful about his criminal activities that he
stopped long before he was ever arrested.

"I would not try to change peoples' opinions," she said. "All I can say is:
'Meet my husband.' He is not a bad person."

Neither the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration nor Correctional
Services Canada would comment specifically on the court battle, but
spokespeople for both departments said the law is clear: Only Canadians can
apply to transfer home from foreign prisons.