THUNDER BAY -- The lawyer representing John Harry Tsekouras plans to appeal the conviction that led to his client being sentenced to nine-and-a-half years for trafficking cocaine and marijuana.
Tsekouras, 41, was given a total sentence of 11.5 years of jail time Friday at the Thunder Bay Courthouse, but was granted two years credit for time spent in custody pre-trial and for charter breaches related to a seized Blackberry.
The ruling came late Friday afternoon after 54 sitting days in court. On Thursday Tsekouras was found guilty of eight counts related to the trafficking case. He was convicted of conspiracy to traffic cocaine and marijuana and trafficking cocaine and marijuana. The other four counts were conditionally stayed.
The Crown had asked for a sentence of up to 16 years, but the defence argued Friday morning that a sentence of no more than 10 years should be imposed.
Defence lawyer Joseph Wilkinson said he believes the judge made the right decision not ceding to the Crown’s request, but he didn’t want to comment further on the decision based on the fact he will be filing an appeal.
“There will be a notice of appeal filed with the court that will set out the specific grounds. The majority of them have to do with pre-trial rulings the trial judge made,” he said.
The appeal process could take up to a year, he added.
Federal Crown attorney Claude Richer said he was happy with the verdict and felt the sentencing was appropriate.
A big part of why the prosecution was successful was because of the hard work of the Thunder Bay Police Service, OPP and RCMP, he said.
“It’s been a long time coming in terms of the amount of work they’ve done to bring this to fruition."
Richer said he also hopes Friday’s sentence sends a message to the community.
“I hope that the community at least can be reassured that those who traffic in drugs will be prosecuted and hopefully this will send that message,” he said.
The judge also issued a lifetime weapons ban on Tsekouras and ordered that he submit a DNA sample.
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.
Justice John 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 found on the Blackberry was the subject of a pre-trial motion to supress because of a warrantless search of the device.
The judge ruled that there had been charter breaches and that the phone had been unlawfully retained, searched and seized, but he still allowed the evidence.
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.
The marijuana charges are connected to the transport and possession of a box containing 18 one-pound packages of marijuana that was found on June 16, 2011.
