Pubdate: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2003 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 Author: Carol Sanders ECUADOR HORROR FOR CITY FAMILY Mom Fears Jailed Son Hired As Drug Mule By Local Recruiters THE parents of a 23-year-old Winnipeg man being held in a nightmarish Ecuadorian prison say what happened to Joseph Stone-Lamontagne could happen to anyone. The Sturgeon Creek graduate, who'd fallen on hard times, told his family he'd landed a job in the oil fields of Texas. The next time they got word of him, he was in prison in Ecuador charged with trafficking cocaine. His family says the young man, who had never been in trouble before, didn't go to Texas but was recruited by traffickers to be a drug mule. "What we want to do is let the rest of Winnipeg know these guys are right here in our very home town recruiting our kids," said his mother, Susan Stone-Lamontagne. Her son, who was laid off from his job at a window and door installation company in Winnipeg, was no globe-trotting drug trafficker, said Stone-Lamontagne. "He hasn't been anywhere -- he's just an average 23-year-old kid." She said he was able to get some casual work with the window and door company and lived with his girlfriend. They were three months behind on the rent on their Winnipeg apartment before he left the city, she said. But he wasn't a bad person, said Stone-Lamontagne. "He's never even been in a real fist fight. He's family-oriented and has a ton of friends who are all really nice people." She and her husband, Rick Stone-Lamontagne, were notified March 8 by the Canadian Consul in Ottawa that Joe had been arrested Feb. 25 for trying to leave Ecuador with half a kilogram of cocaine. They were told it could take years for a duty counsel to be appointed to defend the young man, and that it will cost thousands to hire a lawyer there. They were also told that they had to pay prison officials $150 US a month to make sure he is fed and kept safe from other inmates. "For his food, he gets a bowl of rice at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.," Stone-Lamontagne said. The family, which has had no communication with Joe, paid the Canadian Consulate a $75 fee to send money to the consul in Ecuador to buy some books and writing material for him. "It was stolen from him at knife-point by other prisoners," Stone-Lamontagne said. She said a staff member from the Canadian Consulate in Ecuador was supposed to visit Joe in prison yesterday. The staff member was to deliver letters from his family and friends that had been faxed and e-mailed and to take him some chocolate bars for his low blood sugar. "At this point, he doesn't even know his whole family and his friends are doing what they can to round up funds to pay for his safety," Stone-Lamontagne said. Because Canada has no extradition treaty with Ecuador, there's no chance of him being brought home to Canada, she said. The consulate is trying to have Joe moved out of the general population to a safer part of the prison, which is located in Guayaquil. "They're trying to have him put in with the other foreigners." Meanwhile, the family is trying to raise money to hire a lawyer and to keep Stone-Lamontagne fed and safe in prison. "It's not just Joseph who got caught," said his aunt, Barb Mailey. "It's happening in Winnipeg and all over Canada. Everybody needs to be aware." Mailey is helping to organize an April 19 fund-raising social for her sister's son. "That's my nephew and I love him with all my heart and I'm determined to get him home. That's the kind of family we are -- in the worst-case scenario, everyone pulls together." The social is being held at 7 p.m. at the Norquay Community Centre. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens