LEGAL EXAMPLE FOR DRUG DEALERS

Lawyers are this week making final submissions for the sentencing of
two Okanagan drug dealers caught by a precedent-setting conviction
against organized crime.

Thomas Fraser and Jason Herrick were found guilty earlier this year of
trafficking as well as committing crimes for the profits of their gang.

Justice Geoff Barrow's decision was a first for B.C. courts, in that
it tied the profits of drug trafficking to organized crime.

As such, Crown counsel is aiming for a stiff sentence of both
men.

A 16-year sentence is being put forward for Fraser, 11 of which for
trafficking and another five for connection to a criminal
organization.

Herrick's proposed 11-year sentence would be made up of eight years
for trafficking and another three for the connection to a criminal
organization.

"These are higher level cocaine dealers than you'd normally see," said
Crown Counsel John Walker, upon listing some of the details of the
case.

Fraser and Herrick, he explained, were moving a lot of cocaine until
they were busted in 2007 after a lengthy undercover operation.

"They were trafficking in in Kelowna, Penticton and Oliver," said
Walker, noting they were going through about one to two kilos a week,
and bringing in a gross monthly profit of $50,000.

"Fraser was the leader and got others to traffic for
him."

And, he explained, Fraser wasn't a benevolent employer.

Threatening "to smash heads in" the ring-leader was able to ensure
that his employees didn't mouth off, and the competition was kept at
bay.

Fraser wasn't new to the drug trade either, explained Walker. Before
the 2007 arrest, where cops confiscated six kilograms of cocaine, 450
ecstasy tablets, $72,000 cash and two vehicles, he had been convicted
of dealing in Penticton. That conviction came with a five year
sentence, and it was while he was on bail that the new crimes occurred.

"He was not deterred by the Penticton charges," said
Walker.

"Rather than be deterred, he moved to Kelowna, changed his methods...and
there was an escalation of trafficking."

Herrick, on the other hand, was Fraser's primary employee.

He kept ledgers, was seen moving drugs around storage units, and
breaking it down from bulk quantities to smaller doses, for
distribution.

While he doesn't have a criminal record, Walker said that he turned
down the opportunity to live a law abiding life by choosing crime.

While facts of the case paint Fraser a hardened criminal, his defence
lawyer Doug Jevning says his client has reformed since his arrest and
is looking for a truncated term of imprisonment.

"My friends's suggestions are overly aggressive," he
said.

Fraser has been in jail since the time of his arrest, and has made an
impression on numerous people within the system, said Jevning.

"Fraser has not wasted his time," he said.

Reading from one of a number of letters submitted on Fraser's behalf,
Jevning told the court he's not only bettered himself, but also the
lives of others he was incarcerated with.

"He started a creative writing program, and an inmate pre-release
program," he said.

The pre-release program is said to have helped 100 inmates get their
bearings upon being released, and was devised by Fraser after
realizing that B.C. jails were dealing with a revolving door problem
that could easily be remedied.

"Fraser made a list of things inmates would need to integrate
successfully," said Jevning.

Apparently many of his peers were without identification, an address
upon release, access to social services and any tools to help them
stay out of prison.

The work he's doing within the system these days, is a far cry from
the man who entered prison," well entrenched in the drug culture" he
said, and that among other details should be reflected in his sentence.

Jevning will continue his submissions Friday, and Herricks' lawyer
will make his as well.

Judge Barrow said he'll be ready to make his decision next week.