'Project Merlin' busted international ring
Nov 18, 2008 - 03:00 PM
By Jeff Mitchell
OSHAWA -- A key player in a cocaine smuggling ring busted by Durham police has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
Michael Stewart, 38, pleaded guilty to importing cocaine Monday at the outset of a preliminary inquiry for several men accused of funnelling cocaine from the Dominican Republic into Canada on passenger jets. Project Merlin resulted in the seizure of more than 20 kilograms of cocaine, a dozen firearms and thousands of dollars in cash in 2007.
Mr. Stewart, of Brampton, has been in custody since September 2007. With credit for pretrial custody, his penitentiary sentence amounts to more than six years.
Ontario Court Justice David Stone said the stiff sentence, a joint submission from the prosecution and defence, is warranted considering the large amount of cocaine imported and the negative impact the drug has on the community.
"There is obviously a need to denounce the importation of cocaine," the judge said.
"The amount of human suffering and waste this court has seen has been very heart-rending in some cases."
Court heard Mr. Stewart was to be paid $10,000 to pick up a shipment of cocaine from a baggage handler at Pearson airport and deliver it to a co-conspirator.
But when he met with the baggage handler in the early morning hours of Aug. 19, 2007, he learned the cocaine had already been seized by Canadian border officials. Durham Drug Enforcement Unit cops were monitoring the exchange and obtained a warrant for Mr. Stewart's home, where on Sept. 11 they seized cellphones, drug paraphernalia and Air Canada documents.
Several other people were arrested, nine of whom were to be part of the preliminary inquiry begun this week in Oshawa. In addition to Mr. Stewart, two other accused have pleaded guilty: Chad Collins of Ajax was sentenced to seven years on a two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and Jeremy Brown, an Oshawa resident and a full-patch member of the Hells Angels, was also convicted of possession for the purpose, and received 30 days on top of the more than two years he's spent in custody awaiting trial.
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