COCAINE SMUGGLER TO APPEAL 20-YEAR SENTENCE

The 13-year legal saga of a Quebecer's involvement with international drug
smuggling is considered likely to last even longer, despite the man's
sentencing yesterday.

Paulin Bolduc, considered the mastermind behind an attempt to ship as much
as 2,000 kilograms of Colombian cocaine into Canada, was given a 20-year
prison term for conspiracy to import the illegal drug.

But defence lawyer Michel Dussault indicated he will appeal the penalty.

"I'm sure it will go to appeal because it has all the elements for one,"
crown prosecutor Paul Crepeau told The Gazette yesterday.

If that happens, Crepeau said, "we'll be at Square 2."

Square 1 was the long process that eventually led to Bolduc's sentencing in
Sherbrooke by Quebec Court Judge Michel Babin.

Bolduc had been under police surveillance since 1989, when authorities
learned of plans to smuggle large quantities of cocaine from Colombia into
Canada for subsequent distribution to dealers in cities like Montreal and
New York.

Then in April 1991, a cargo ship carrying between 800 and 2,000 kilos of
cocaine sank off the coast of Newfoundland.

Bolduc was one of 22 people arrested and charged with conspiracy as a result.

Carrying a false passport, he fled Canada in November 1993 while on bail
and awaiting trial.

He was tracked down by the FBI two years later while living in an apartment
in Santa Marta, Colombia, alleged to have been owned by members of the
Medellin drug cartel. Bolduc was returned to Canada and sentenced in 1996
to 20 years and 10 months.

That conviction was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal in September
1999 and a new trial was ordered.

As the second trial was to begin last month, Bolduc pleaded guilty to
conspiracy.

Babin took into account the prison time that Bolduc had already served, but
ruled that Bolduc must complete the 14-year balance - meaning he must
remain behind bars for four more years before becoming eligible to apply
for parole.