Pubdate: Thu, 03 May 2007
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Ian Robertson, Sun Media

DRUG DEALER GETS SLAP ON WRIST

Blamed Fatherless Upbringing

The devotion of a mother and a pastor prompted a judge to cut jail
time for a drug dealer who ignored repeated court bans on packing guns
- -- then pointed one at a cop.

Raised in a tough area by a single religious mom who became a nurse to
support her son, Justice David Stinson said Leon Bryan "never knew his
father," testified to living "the gangsta lifestyle," but had
demonstrated remorse.

In sentencing the Scarborough father of two to 16 months with
probation and community service instead of 8-to-10 years in prison --
which prosecutors sought -- Stinson warned Tuesday of no leniency if
Bryan returned to his court.

PLEADED NOT GUILTY

On Feb. 12, he pleaded guilty to possessing an illegal gun and
breaching his latest firearm ban, but not guilty to pointing one at a
Toronto Gun and Gang task force officer who caught him on April 16,
2006.

A jury convicted Bryan of that charge on Feb. 21.

Expelled from Grade 11, he admitted in court to selling marijuana to
support a pregnant girlfriend, in recent years pocketing $2,000 in
weekly pot-sale profits.

Bryan told court he challenged a gunman to shoot after refusing to
surrender his jewelry in a nightclub a few days before his capture.
The gunman wounded several other patrons, which Bryan said prompted
him to tuck a .22-calibre handgun into his pants for protection.

Police were preparing to raid his home when he walked out. Based on a
tip and the way the suspect held his front, they believed he had a
gun.

After colleagues staged an argument to district him, an officer
demanded Bryan's surrender at gunpoint.

He fled, turned and pointed his gun at Det.-Const. Richard Harris
before running into a subway station, across tracks and over barb-wire
fences -- prompting to police to have the LRT trains stopped.

Task force head Det.-Sgt. Doug Quan yesterday said one cop's chest and
hands were slightly torn before Harris captured Bryan.

"Any handgun off the street, especially under these circumstances, is
a good seizure," Quan said. "He clearly indicated he had it for
protection, which suggested he was willing to fire it and that could
have led to other intended or unintended victims."

SUPPORT

Stinson said Bryan's conviction record for 31 offences, plus the risk
to police and the community were weighed against Bryan's age, apparent
remorse, support from relatives and established sentencing standards
for gunmen.

The judge gave special credit for his mom's devotion and support. But
in warning Bryan to heed 32 months shaved off two concurrent 3-year
terms and a 6-month consecutive term to compensate for pre-sentencing
jail time, Stinson quoted several colleagues who called Toronto's gun
plague "a scourge on society.

"Your brush with death in the nightclub appears to be the catalyst
that has influenced him to turn his life around," Stinson told Bryan,
wishing him good luck.
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MAP posted-by: Derek