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.
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