B.C. COCAINE TRAFFICKER LOSES BID TO BE MOVED TO CANADIAN PRISON

Toews Cited Organized Crime Links When He Denied Transfer in ' 09

A B. C. cocaine trafficker jailed in Texas has lost his bid to be
transferred to a Canadian prison -- in part because of his links to
organized crime, the Federal Court of Canada has ruled.

Scott Newberry was convicted in Portland, Ore. in April 2006 for his
role in a drug-smuggling ring responsible for moving hundreds of
kilos of cocaine. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail, followed by
five years of supervised release.

Newberry, now 36, applied in June 2009 to serve out his sentence in
Canada, but was denied in September 2010 by the public safety
minister Vic Toews.

Newberry then took his case to the Federal Court, where it was heard
in Vancouver earlier this month before Judge Michel M. J. Shore.

Shore ruled that the federal government's decision to disallow the
transfer was reasonable and dismissed Newberry's case.

"The real issue to deal with then is whether there was sufficient
evidence to allow the Minister to make a good-faith finding that the
applicant presents a significant risk of committing a criminal-
organization offence once transferred to Canada," Shore said in the
ruling. "In my view, the Minister acted reasonably in concluding that
such evidence exists."

Newberry was arrested in September 2005 after loading 39 kilograms of
cocaine into a hidden compartment of his truck. He was found with $
85,000 in U. S. currency.

"This case is identified as a large drug-smuggling conspiracy, in
which Mr. Newberry was identified as ' just below' the head of a
Canadian drug organization by the Assistant United States Attorney,"
the public safety minister said in his response to Newberry's request
last year.

The minister said it was clear that Newberry had accomplices who were
not caught.

"Ties to organized crime are suggested by certain indications in the
file that the applicant was in direct contact with the head of the
Canadian drug organization being investigated by the U. S.," he said
in his decision, which was quoted by Shore.

"He transported cocaine and money from the U. S. to Canada and high-
quality marijuana and ecstasy from Canada to the U. S. in numerous
trips over many years, involving huge quantities of cocaine.

"The applicant was identified as a key link in the transportation of
the drugs across the border as it was his truck, registered in his
name and containing a secret hydraulic compartment that was used
between 1998 and 2005. He was held accountable for 279 kilograms of
cocaine and the money that he transported was reported to be used to
pay others involved in the criminal activity."

Shore said Toews's decision was carefully considered.

"The Minister weighed the purposes of the International Transfer of
Offenders Act, the positive and negative circumstances of the
applicant and the relevant factors," Shore said, adding that Toews
"reached the decision that the objectives of the international
transfer of offenders system, those of protecting society and
rehabilitation, could not be as effectively achieved through transfer
of the applicant to Canada."

Shore also cited the case of another B. C. cocaine smuggler, Perley
Holmes, who was also denied a transfer to a Canadian jail in a
decision upheld by the Federal Court last February.

But two other Federal Court judges ruled last year that the federal
government was unreasonable in denying transfers to other B. C.
traffickers doing time down south.