JUST A LITTLE WARNING BEFORE YOU TAKE OFF

Jailed Winnipegger's Horror Story Not Unusual

And now a clip-and-save column you should read before you take off to see
the world. Since last Saturday's column, I've been hearing from people
wanting to know where they can send donations to help a young Winnipeg man
who's locked in a living hell.

Joe Stone-Lamontagne is in a South American prison that could pass for
Devil's Island if it was surrounded by water and sharks instead of partial
fencing and helicopter gunships.

I'll tell you how to help the family raise $70,000 to free their son, but
first, you should understand that what happened to young Joe is far from
unusual.

What he did -- innocently or not -- was attempt to bring a briefcase back
to North America from an airport in Ecuador.

The briefcase didn't belong to him, and had half a kilo of cocaine hidden
in its handle. Nearly three months later, Stone-Lamontagne is facing 25
years in a prison, which is a death sentence if you consider that he gets
two bowls of rice a day, and sleeps on the floor of a cell built for two,
but houses five.

Not counting cockroaches.

As I was saying, though, Joe's case isn't all that unusual.

All you have to do is check out the Foreign Affairs Web site
(www.voyage.gc.ca), where you'll receive the following warning.

"Drug traffickers commonly prey on unsuspecting tourists, especially women,
younger travellers and seniors. Be wary of the company you keep... you
could be implicated by association."

Try following the link marked: "True Confessions: Canadians Imprisoned
Abroad." The true confessors are six anonymous Canadians who have done or
are doing time in various countries for drug smuggling. Only one even
approaches the maximum 25-year sentence this Joe from Winnipeg could get on
conviction.

Peter, a 35-year-old Canadian with no previous criminal record, got 15
years for importing 10 kilos of marijuana to Cuba.

In fact, none of them had previous criminal records.

That didn't surprise me.

What did was that the other sentencings were wrist-slaps by comparison with
Stone-Lamontagne.

Take Lucie, a 34-year-old Montreal nurse and Henry, a 25-year-old
unemployed electrician.

He was convicted of importing hashish and got six months.

She got 60 days for trafficking twice as much cocaine as Joe was caught
with. Both of them were caught in Florida.

Meanwhile, Peter was caught seven years ago, and still has eight years to
serve.

In his true confession on the Net, Peter talks about being fed bread and
water initially.

"The water was a milky colour and it really made me ill."

Eventually, he got meat that made the water look like Perrier.

It was infested with worms and bugs.

"I still haven't learned how to deal with the bugs and rats that have
infested my cell," Peter writes, "At night, they run all over me when I'm
sleeping. It's... like something out of a horror movie." He concludes this way:

"I can't tell you how unbearable my situation is. My family has suffered. I
live with a broken heart every day. I wish I could turn back the clock and
change things. No amount of money is worth this ordeal."

The Foreign Affairs Web site also issues this warning for innocents like
you who are travelling abroad.

"Refuse to carry anything for anybody across a border or through customs."

And then this for the guilty.

"Don't be tempted to smuggle drugs to earn fast, easy cash. Any deal that
sounds too good to be true is too good to be true."

Joe's innocence or guilt has yet to be determined.

But what's interesting is that that's exactly what Joe told his mother he's
learned from the experience. "If it sounds too good to be true, it is."
Obviously, he's learned something else being imprisoned in Ecuador. If it
sounds too bad to be true, it is.

And worse.

If you care to make a donation to help Joe's defence, you have two choices.

His father, Rick Lamontagne, has set up a trust fund for his son at the
Polo Park CIBC.

Or you can mail your donation directly to:

Susan Stone

500 King Edward St. Winnipeg, R3J 1L8