News (Media Awareness Project) - CN MB: Accused 'Mule' Rots In Grim Jail |
| Title: | CN MB: Accused 'Mule' Rots In Grim Jail |
| Published On: | 2003-04-10 |
| Source: | Winnipeg Sun (CN MB) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-20 20:21:11 |
ACCUSED 'MULE' ROTS IN GRIM JAIL
Supporters Bid To Fund Lawyer
A Winnipeg man is struggling to remain upbeat while chained to his bed post
in a primitive Ecuadorian prison.
"I am scared, lonely, sick, but still everyday I find strength to get up
everyday and pray," Joey Stone-Lamontagne wrote in a March 19 letter to his
family and friends. "I draw all my strength and courage from all of you,
please don't lose faith in me."
Stone-Lamontagne, 23, was taken into custody by Ecuadorian police on Feb.
25 after allegedly attempting to smuggle a half-kilogram of cocaine on to a
plane. The Sturgeon Creek grad had left Winnipeg earlier that month,
telling his parents a friend had found him a temporary job in Dallas.
Instead, his family was told by officials that Stone-Lamontagne made stops
in New Jersey and Spain before being busted in Ecuador. He was acting as a
"mule" for a drug cartel, officials told his parents.
Stone-Lamontagne faces up to 16 years behind bars if convicted on
trafficking charges. Several fundraisers are being planned -- including one
tomorrow night at the Pyramid Cabaret -- to pay for a private lawyer and
speed up the court process. The family has also been advised to pay $150
per month to guards to ensure he is fed and doesn't get beaten.
"It is very scary here," Stone-Lamontagne wrote. "I just witnessed the
mafia -- this guy owes them money and they came to collect. I was in the
room and I thought it was going to get violent, but thank God it didn't."
Prisoners at Ecuador penitentiaries are often subject to cruel, inhuman and
degrading conditions, the Amnesty International Web site states. The
organization cited a case in which two adolescents were "sold for sex" by
guards to a detainee and raped.
Stone-Lamontagne has not contracted any sexually transmitted disease, his
brother Eric said yesterday. He does, though, have sores on his body and an
eye infection, his brother said.
The family maintains Stone-Lamontagne's innocence.
"I used to be a bad kid ... and there's no way Joe could do something like
this," Eric said.
Supporters Bid To Fund Lawyer
A Winnipeg man is struggling to remain upbeat while chained to his bed post
in a primitive Ecuadorian prison.
"I am scared, lonely, sick, but still everyday I find strength to get up
everyday and pray," Joey Stone-Lamontagne wrote in a March 19 letter to his
family and friends. "I draw all my strength and courage from all of you,
please don't lose faith in me."
Stone-Lamontagne, 23, was taken into custody by Ecuadorian police on Feb.
25 after allegedly attempting to smuggle a half-kilogram of cocaine on to a
plane. The Sturgeon Creek grad had left Winnipeg earlier that month,
telling his parents a friend had found him a temporary job in Dallas.
Instead, his family was told by officials that Stone-Lamontagne made stops
in New Jersey and Spain before being busted in Ecuador. He was acting as a
"mule" for a drug cartel, officials told his parents.
Stone-Lamontagne faces up to 16 years behind bars if convicted on
trafficking charges. Several fundraisers are being planned -- including one
tomorrow night at the Pyramid Cabaret -- to pay for a private lawyer and
speed up the court process. The family has also been advised to pay $150
per month to guards to ensure he is fed and doesn't get beaten.
"It is very scary here," Stone-Lamontagne wrote. "I just witnessed the
mafia -- this guy owes them money and they came to collect. I was in the
room and I thought it was going to get violent, but thank God it didn't."
Prisoners at Ecuador penitentiaries are often subject to cruel, inhuman and
degrading conditions, the Amnesty International Web site states. The
organization cited a case in which two adolescents were "sold for sex" by
guards to a detainee and raped.
Stone-Lamontagne has not contracted any sexually transmitted disease, his
brother Eric said yesterday. He does, though, have sores on his body and an
eye infection, his brother said.
The family maintains Stone-Lamontagne's innocence.
"I used to be a bad kid ... and there's no way Joe could do something like
this," Eric said.
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