The Thunder Bay man convicted in the U.S. of stealing a college airplane and taking it across the border won’t appear in court again until the New Year.
Attorneys met briefly in the Ontario Court of Justice in Thunder Bay on Wednesday to adjourn the matter of Adam Leon until Jan. 31, 2012.
Leon did not appear in court as he was in Toronto and was represented by his lawyer, Neil McCartney.
McCartney said Leon was doing his best to live his life after serving two years in jail for allegedly stealing a Confederation College plane and going on an unauthorized flight over three U.S. states on April 6, 2009.
He pleaded guilty in an American courtroom to interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft and illegal entry.
Canadian police officers arrested Leon after he was released from a U.S. prison because of crimes he allegedly committed on this side of the border, which were not addressed during his American trial.
McCartney said he hoped that Leon’s time in jail would play a factor when he and the Crown attorney meet in January for the pretrial conference.
The conference will be informal and take place in the judge’s quarters where the lawyers can see if they can resolve the matter without having to go to trial.
He said it’s too hard to tell if the case will move ahead more quickly when they meet in the New Year.
“It always seemed to me from the beginning that a big feature of the case is the punishment that Leon already experienced in the United States,” McCartney said. “I’m certainly anticipating that will factor into the discussion.”
The infamous flight led to international attention in 2009.
Major news networks, including CNN, had live coverage of the incident, and major newspapers across the globe followed some of the legal aftermath.
American courts heard how Leon had suffered from depression when he took the plane.
