JUDGE ISSUES 'WAKE UP' CALL ON VIOLENCE

Man Gets 7 Years For Gang Shooting

ONE of the province's most prominent judges urged Winnipeggers yesterday to
"wake up" and deal with the city's growing drug problem and the street violence
that pervades it.

"I think it's time the city woke up and realized what kind of drug problem
exists. How it is nobody was more seriously injured or killed is beyond
belief," Queen's Bench Associate Chief Justice Jeff Oliphant said in court.
"It's time the city does something and puts a stop to this."

Oliphant made his comments during the sentencing hearing of Robert Chartrand,
who had pleaded guilty to the unprovoked shooting of a rival gang member last
summer. Chartrand, 21, was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Besides the intended target -- Zig Zag member Jason Mills -- two bystanders
were hit by shotgun pellets while in the parking lot of Simon's Niteclub.

One young woman still has lead lodged in her throat, arm and stomach, because
doctors feel it is too dangerous to remove. The other victim, a young man,
suffered puncture wounds to his abdomen and back.

Winnipeg police have been trying -- drug unit officers seized a kilo of crack
cocaine in a series of raids early yesterday -- to put a lid on the street
violence, but admit it is taxing their resources. "We're appreciative of any
support the judiciary can give us in raising public awareness," Staff Sgt. Boyd
Campbell said.

Chartrand admitted he pulled the trigger with the same hand he used years
earlier to greet Prince Charles during a royal trip to Winnipeg -- a meeting
Chartrand says was a rare highlight of his otherwise troubled life.

Chartrand also spoke of wasted opportunities, which includes a two-year stint
as the first-ever batboy for the Winnipeg Goldeyes upon their return to the
city in the mid-1990s.

He is also an amateur boxer with Olympic dreams that likely have been dashed,
court was told.

"Your ability to travel is going to be a big problem. Governments of foreign
countries don't want people in their countries convicted of shooting other
people," Oliphant told Chartrand.

Chartrand was also charged last summer with trafficking cocaine, along with 14
others in what police described as an elaborate "dial-a-dealer" operation.
Investigators were able to listen in on two cellphones used by Chartrand and
his cohorts. Oliphant noted yesterday one phone received 8,000 calls in a
month, while another rang 5,000 times.

"That is 13,000 people, presumably ordering cocaine in one month," he said,
shaking his head.

Chartrand pleaded guilty to the drug charge and was sentenced to the one year
he had spent in custody since his arrest.

Chartrand said yesterday he shot Mills, a hated drug rival, after a friend of
his "chickened out" about doing the job.

Both Chartrand and his friend were seeking entry into the rival criminal
organization of the Hells Angels, which is run by two brothers, court was told
yesterday. The friend, who has a "wannabee", figured he would shoot Mills, an
associate of the Hells, to impress his gang brethren.

He recruited Chartrand to drive him around, first to pick up the sawed-off,
pump-action shotgun, and then to take him to the McPhillips Street bar.

When the pair arrived, Chartrand's friend handed him the gun, saying "you do
it", court was told. Chartrand obliged, finding Mills in the crowd, walking
within a metre of him, and squeezing the trigger once.