Pubdate: Wed, 23 May 2007 Source: Sault Star, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 The Sault Star Contact: http://www.saultstar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1071 Author: Linda Richardson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) CO-WORKERS SUPPORT HELPS SEAL SUSPENDED SENTENCE IN DRUG CASE A judge was impressed Wednesday with the support fellow workers demonstrated for a man facing a serious drug charge. "Your colleagues think very highly of you," Ontario Court Justice Wayne Cohen told Robert Zagorc after perusing a letter signed by 30 co-workers at Algoma Tubes. Defence counsel Murdoch Carter provided the court with the "letter of reference" after his client was convicted of two drug-related offences. "It shows Mr. Zagorc is otherwise a productive member of society," he said, adding his client, who has shown a lot of remorse, "has learned a lesson here." Zagorc, 27, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possession of hash. Cohen accepted a joint Crown-defence sentencing submission that called for a suspended sentenced, two years probation and a $2,000 donation to KidsHope. "I'm hoping he's learned his lesson," federal prosecutor Wayne Chorney said. "He's been given a break." The court heard police, armed with a search warrant, raided Zagorc's west-end apartment on June 1 after receiving a tip from an informant. Officers, who had to breach the door, found Zagorc and his girlfriend in the apartment, Chorney said. A co-operative Zagorc told officers "the weed was in a closet in the bedroom" and the hash in a coffee table in the living room. Police seized 15.7 grams of hash, 94 grams of marijuana, a small address book with a debt list, a digital scale and other paraphernalia. Zagorc said "all the drugs were his and indicated she (his girlfriend) doesn't smoke or drink," Chorney said. Carter said there were a numbers of issues that would have been raised if the matter had gone to trial. Chorney said if the case had gone to trial and Zagorc had been convicted, his position would have been 60 to 90 days incarceration. The term likely would have been served intermittently because of the accused's job. The prosecutor described the marijuana offence as a "soft or low-end" possession for the purpose of trafficking. "The debt list was quite moderate and the quantity seized was less than a quarter pound, a low amount," Chorney said. Zagorc apologized to the judge for wasting his and the community's time. "I never want to go through this again," he vowed. "I don't want to be in trouble with the law." The Crown withdrew all charges against the man's co-accused, Madelyn Biron, 23, following his guilty pleas. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek