HIGH ROLLER NO PATSY: CROWN

Busted With Then-Record Coke Haul

A man busted with a then-record amount of cocaine was a high-level
player in the drug trade and not simply a courier, court heard
yesterday. James Jenner, convicted earlier this year of possessing
cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, was arrested in April 2002,
after police seized 17 kilograms of high-grade cocaine from a Sentinel
Storage locker registered in his name.

At his trial, Jenner's lawyer claimed he was a dupe who didn't know
what was being stored in his locker. As the second day of his
sentencing hearing gets underway later this week, it's expected Jenner
will again claim he was a minor player in the drug world.

But yesterday, Crown attorney Paul Jenzen called evidence to suggest
Jenner had been a high roller for years, likely as a result of profits
he garnered from the cocaine trade.

EXOTIC LOCALES

Jenzen tendered police evidence seized from Jenner's home, including
financial statements, travel plans and family photo albums proving
he'd paid for trips to Cancun, Jamaica, Las Vegas, New York and the
Cayman Islands, among other exotic locales.

But defence lawyer Jay Prober bristled at suggestions the evidence
proved anything other than that Jenner was a hard worker.

"This man has been working for years -- he started delivering papers
when he was 10 years old," Prober said.

At Jenner's trial, Prober argued there was little evidence to prove
Jenner even knew what was in the locker.

"Any number of people could have had access to the locker in question
and probably did," he said at trial.

But Jenzen refuted Prober's attempts to paint Jenner as a
patsy.

"Why would they set him up as a fall guy for the largest cocaine bust
in the history of Winnipeg city police?" Jenzen asked. "Why would some
other drug lord trust him with 17 kilograms of cocaine? ... It doesn't
make sense."

Queen's Bench Justice Theodore Glowacki sided with the Crown, noting
its unlikely anyone would rent a locker so far from his home if all he
intended to store were two suitcases and an old plaque -- the only
other items cops seized along with the drugs.

"The only reasonable inference that can be drawn is that Mr. Jenner
was in possession of the locker and of its contents," Glowacki said.
"There's no other explanation for the circumstantial evidence other
than that the accused is guilty of the crime."

The Crown will be seeking a 12-year prison sentence for Jenner, who's
sentencing hearing continues on Friday.