FIVE YEARS IN U.S. PRISON FOR CHEEMA

More than a decade after being accused of a major role in an
international drug smuggling ring, Vancouverite Ranjit Singh Cheema
has been sentenced in California to five years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Lui confirmed to The Sun that
Cheema has received 60 months, followed by three years mandatory supervision.

Despite his reputation in B.C. for years as a senior and active gang
leader, Cheema claimed in U.S. court papers that he only got caught
up in an international heroin and cocaine smuggling conspiracy
because he was depressed and addicted to drugs.

The 40-year-old said he had wanted to be a police officer in his
youth and was busy working as a trucker in August 1995 when he was
shot at the Zodiac nightclub in Richmond.

"My recovery was very difficult; I am still living with the
complications of the shooting to this day," Cheema said. "I fell into
a deep depression and was suffering from post-traumatic stress
syndrome. I started self-medicating and using cocaine. I started
hanging out around with the wrong kind of people who were into the lifestyle.

"It was around this time that I got into doing a deal with the
Pakistanis. I got into this deal to make quick money to support my
drug habit and affluent lifestyle."

Cheema was first charged in the international trafficking case in
February 1998, but hired top-notch defence lawyers to fight
extradition to the U.S.

Finally, last January, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Cheema's
request for leave to appeal the earlier decision.

In a plea agreement, Cheema admitted that he drove to Seattle in 1997
and met a confidential informant working for the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration to make final plans for shipment of 200
kilos of Pakistani heroin. The U.S. attorney had argued that Cheema
should spend nine years behind bars, the same amount of time as his
Canadian co-accused who were arrested back in 1998.