JUDGE GIVES DRUG RUNNERS CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

Says Four Young Men In Over Their Heads With Crazy Dragons
Gang

A Crown prosecutor will seek to appeal the community-based sentences
handed to four young men who delivered crack cocaine for the
Edmonton-based Crazy Dragons gang.

"I think it sends the wrong message for them not to be going to jail,"
federal Crown prosecutor Byron Wright said this week outside Saskatoon
provincial court.

The four were "street-level runners" for the organized, hierarchical
organization. The "dial-a-dope" scheme operated 24 hours per day,
seven days per week as nicknamed runners, working 12-hour shifts,
carried cellphones to take orders. They then picked up small amounts
from stash sites, which were often located in public areas such as
parks, alleys, along rural roads and near a cemetery, Wright said.

Dale Julius Kaye, 22, Jason Allan Pederson, 21, and Daniel Aube, 21,
pleaded guilty to committing an offence for a criminal organization,
conspiracy and trafficking. Each was sentenced to two years less one
day to be served in the community under strict conditions.

A slightly shorter, 15-month conditional sentence was given to Rocky
Sacluti Domingo, 22, who had been involved for three days before Aug.
2, 2006, when police moved in to shut down the operation and arrest
the participants. He had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy and
trafficking,

Among the 20,000 phone calls police intercepted during a 60-day
warranted phone tap were 2,200 calls related to 600 drug transactions,
Wright said.

Buyers obtained crack cocaine in quantities of half-gram, one-gram and
3.5 grams.

Wright had asked for 21/2-year penitentiary terms for Aube, Pederson
and Kaye.

Judge Patrick Carey said Monday he agonized over the
sentence.

He is satisfied the total of four years on strict conditions,
including two served so far and two to come, will deter most people
from committing such acts, "no matter how young and foolish they are."

"A conditional sentence is imprisonment. It is not a slap on the
wrist," he said, adding any violations will likely result in jail time.

Carey accepted the request of defence lawyer Duane Braun for
conditional sentences for a list of reasons.

"This was a group of young men caught up in criminal activities that
were way over their heads and comprehension," he said.

None of them had criminal records, all avoided serious violations of
the strict conditions they were under for the past two years, all are
remorseful and apologetic and all have community support.

The four have legitimate, full-time jobs and are rehabilitated, he
said.

Carey warned the offenders the matter may not be over because the
sentence veers from the case law.

"A superior court may find actual jail time is necessary," Carey
said.

The Saskatoon boss, Paul Rasmussen, 25, pleaded guilty in September
and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Another person awaiting trial is Justin Howard, 25, of Edmonton,
Rasmussen's alleged superior in the organization.