Pubdate: Wed, 15 Nov 2006
Source: Chronicle-Journal, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006 The Chronicle-Journal
Contact: http://tricubemedia.net/tbayemail/letters.php
Website: http://www.chroniclejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3155
Author:  Julio Gomes

LAWYER SAYS CLIENT MORE WORRIED ABOUT DEPORTATION
THAN CONVICTION

A Chinese national who used his life's savings to illegally enter
Canada and was working to pay that debt has been convicted of two
serious drug offences.

But those convictions are just the beginning of bigger problems for
Wenjie Fan, his lawyer said after Monday's court appearance.

Fan, 45, still owes a large amount of money to the wide-ranging
criminal gang known as the "snakeheads." He also faces deportation
back to his homeland, and a date with a harsh justice system.

"Initial research I've done has shown the Chinese government does have
the death penalty for drug traffickers," Christopher Watkins said.

Fan, a marble cutter, wanted to come to Canada. In China, he said at
his Oct. 26-27 trial, the snakeheads are known as "the Immigration
Department" for their ability to smuggle people to the West. He agreed
to pay the equivalent of $30,000, putting up his savings of $10,000.

Snakeheads typically operate in Fujian, a province on the southeast
coast of China, across the Formosa Strait from the island of Taiwan.

Fan eventually found himself in a what he described as a
French-speaking city in Canada and was then taken to the wilds of
Northern Ontario to repay his debt. At a baseball field in Wabigoon,
he was told to keep an eye on a crop, to shoo away deer and make sure
no one stole the plants.

On Aug. 22, 2005, about a month after he left China, Fan and another
man were arrested by officers with the tri-force drug unit.

The other man, Jia Min Fang, was reputedly running the operation. He
was granted bail on a $10,000 surety Sept. 8, 2005, but failed to show
up for trial.

A Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued.

On Monday, Superior Court Justice Robert Zelinski delivered a verdict
on Fan.

He dismissed the defence of duress, saying that even though Fan knew
the snakeheads were a criminal gang he still entered into an agreement
with them. Once he was at the Wabigoon ball field, he must've had some
inkling about the nature of the plants he was supposed to be guarding.

In all, police seized 5,500 marijuana plants. Once processed, the
marijuana could sell for a total of $5.5 million on the street.

Zelinski found that if Fan wasn't truly aware of what he was doing, he
was at least willfully blind to the nature of the plants.

He was arrested with $1,590 in cash -- a large amount of money for
what was supposed to be "minimal effort."

He knew he was participating in a cannabis marijuana grow operation,
Zelinski said, convicting Fan of both possessing marijuana for the
purpose of trafficking and production of marijuana.

Watkins asked for a sentencing hearing to be deferred, so he could
explore certain issues, including the "severe repercussions" Fan faced
if he was returned to China. The matter was adjourned to Dec. 20.

Fan has already spent nearly 15 months in jail -- likely more time
than he'd be required to serve for these convictions.
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