NO FREEDOM FOR DRUG DEALER

A Surrey drug dealer convicted of viciously attacking two innocent men
with a billy club because he thought they were infringing on his turf
has lost an appeal of his 2005 conviction for manslaughter and
aggravated assault.

Marlon Ernesto Aburto, 39, was originally charged with second-degree
murder in the beating death of Clayton Chamaschuk but was convicted on
the lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years. He is
also serving a concurrent sentence of eight years for aggravated
assault, against Clifford Jarvis.

Chamaschuk was a tall thin man who suffered from Crohn's disease. He
had fallen on hard times as a result of his illness but was loved by
his family and volunteered at a homeless shelter, the BC Court of
Appeal heard. The only crime he and Jarvis were guilty of was having
dinner at a friend's place when they were attacked.

In December 2003 Aburto and an associate who has not been identified
by the court were enforcing what they considered to be their right to
control the sale of illicit drugs at the Bonanza Motel, on King George
Highway in Whalley.

The court heard that April Neville, a resident at the motel, had sold
$10 of cocaine to another resident that afternoon. That evening, she,
Chamaschuk, Jarvis and two other women were having dinner in her suite
when Aburto and his associate kicked in the door and beat Chamaschuk
and Jarvis with billy clubs.

The three women ran to the motel office for help and the manager
called 911.

The court heard that after the beating the attackers walked out of the
parking lot and Aburto shot Neville a grin as he passed by her.

Chamaschuk's brain swelled up and, despite surgery, he died a month
later. Jarvis, meantime, suffered deep cuts that exposed his skull.
The court heard neither had been involved in trafficking drugs.

Aburto, originally from Nicaragua, was 33 at the time. His prior
record consists of 13 criminal convictions including assault with and
without weapons, burglary, and drug possession.

He attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to appeal the manslaughter and
aggravated assault convictions in 2005.

In his latest appeal, he challenged his sentence as being too high,
that it failed to adequately provide for the possibility of
rehabilitation, and that the trial judge used lack of remorse as an
aggravating factor in sentencing. He didn't get far.

"I would not give effect to any of these arguments," Appeal Court
Justice David Frankel found. Justices P.D. Lowry and Kathryn Neilson
agreed.