THUNDER BAY -- John Tsekouras has been found guilty on all eight counts he faced in a drug trafficking trial and could spend up to 16 years in jail.
After 53 sitting days in court, John Harry Tsekouras, 40, was convicted on four of the eight counts Thursday at the Thunder Bay Courthouse. The other four counts were conditionally stayed.
Justice John Wright convicted the accused of conspiracy to traffic cocaine and marijuana and trafficking cocaine and marijuana in connection to events that occurred between June 11 and 16, 2011.
Tsekouras was charged and arrested in April 2012 as part of Project Dolphin – an extensive undercover operation conducted by the city police, OPP, RCMP and Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service that resulted in the arrest of 14 other people.
Much of the details of this case have been hidden from the public via a publication ban, but the judge lifted that order Thursday after he delivered his verdict.
Justice Wright said his decision was based on evidence that included text messages sent and received by a Blackberry that was seized from Tsekouras when he was arrested.
The phone was heavily encrypted but the RCMP technological lab extracted 406 emails and 25 address book entries.
Evidence also included a guilty plea and statement of facts given to the court by Francesco Muzzi in December 2012; Muzzi is currently serving a nine-year prison term for drug-trafficking offences.
The judge also considered a statement given to police in December 2011 from Salvatore Larizza, who was the victim of a homicide in October 2012.
The cocaine-related charges stem from the sale and transport of two kilograms of the narcotic in June 2011 between Tsekouras and another male, who has yet to have his case go before the court.
Texts show the transaction between Tsekouras, the other male and a supplier identified in court only as Penguin.
The marijuana charges are connected to the transport and possession, with the assistance of Muzzi, of a box containing 18 one-pound packages of marijuana that was found in Larizza’s garage on June 16, 2011.
Crown attorney Claude Richer asked for a 16-year sentence in his sentencing submissions following the verdict – 12 years for the cocaine convictions and four years for the marijuana convictions.
Richer said that sentence may seem high but Tsekouras already has a conviction for conspiracy to traffic cocaine from 1997 and that he made a choice to engage in drug dealing.
The accused is not an addict; his motivation was solely financial gain, said Richer.
The case resumes Friday morning with sentencing submissions from the defense.
