Pubdate: Fri, 28 May 2010
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Damian Inwood, The Province

MAN'S EX SHOCKED BY DRUG CHARGES

Male One of 5 Accused in Pot-Smuggling Caper

Vancouver businessman Rick Bafaro and his ex-wife Jessica Ruth were
hailed in 2002 as one of Yaletown's "glam couples."

They owned a pair of trendy stores and hairstylist Ruth had dyed the
locks of three Vancouver Canucks platinum blond for the 2001
first-round Stanley Cup playoffs.

Today, 45-year-old Bafaro sits in jail in Washington state facing
drug-smuggling charges. He's been named in court documents as the
ringleader in a plan to hike into the U.S. carrying backpacks stuffed
with B.C. bud. He was arrested, along with four other men, on April
26.

"In one sense it was a complete shock and in another sense it's not
shocking at all," Bafaro's ex-wife told The Province on Thursday.
"When I say it's not shocking, it's not like he's been involved in
this before. But he's one of these people who's really artistic and
starts going with the flow and doesn't really think about what he's
doing and how it's affecting others."

The Bafaros split up four years ago and Ruth, 40, said her main
concern now is the welfare of the couple's eight-year-old son, Julian.
"He's eight, he's just starting to read and he's at a special school
for children with learning disabilities," she said. "He knows what
happened. The idea that his dad could be so foolish to make a choice
that wouldn't just affect him but everyone around him, especially his
son -- I don't even know the word for it."

Ruth, who owns Stratosphere hair salon on Granville Street, described
her ex-husband as a "free spirit" who "wasn't grounded" after their
divorce.

According to court documents filed in Seattle, Bafaro was arrested at
the Best Western Hotel in Bellingham, after four other men were caught
in the woods south of the U.S. border. Federal customs and immigration
agents found four backpacks in the forest containing 11 heat-sealed
plastic bags of marijuana weighing 60.49 kilograms.

Charged

The other four men included two respected entrepreneurs, former Telus
marketing director Chris Neary, who's in his mid-30s, and Duncan
fitness club owner Daryl Fontana, 37. Also arrested were Sinisa Gavric
and Carl Thiessen.

In court documents, Fontana made a written statement saying he'd met
Bafaro on April 19 and Bafaro had told Fontana he stood to make $10,000.

"That would require me backpacking 25-plus pounds of marijuana across
the border into the U.S.," Fontana wrote. "Rick, as far as I know, was
the main facilitator of this job. He organized the buying of
equipment, the packing of the marijuana and the logistics of the
transport from Canada to the U.S."

According to court documents, Bafaro told U.S. federal agents he was
going to be paid "approximately $300 per pound of smuggled marijuana"
- -- or about $40,000 in total -- "and that he did it because he needed
the money."

Ruth painted a picture of her ex-husband as an "eccentric, very
charismatic person, with lots of energy," who loved to be part of a
team.

"For years and years he tried to make the NHL," she said. "I could see
how people could get taken in and wrapped up in what he's doing. He's
incredibly active and is in amazing shape and, probably, some kind of
strange opportunity came up."

Ruth said that while her ex-husband was not making custody payments,
he did see his son every weekend. She said Bafaro had two tattoos, one
with her name and the other their son's name.

Before they divorced, the couple were part-owners of Zero Gravity
Clothing and Stratosphere hair salon, which was then in Yaletown.

Ruth said she doesn't plan on going to Bafaro's trial, which is
scheduled for July 6 in U.S. District Court in Seattle. "I'm going for
sole custody [of Julian]," she said grimly. "That's the trial I'm going to."

She said she'll leave it up to her son to decide if he wants to go to
his father's trial: "Julian, at this point, doesn't want to go, not
because he doesn't want to see his dad, but the whole idea scares him
a bit."

Ruth said that, as far as she knows, her ex-husband wasn't involved in
drugs. "Of course, it always makes you doubt things now," she added.

A letter was filed in court from Bafaro's girlfriend, Julie Bevacqua,
a Vancouver software marketing director.

She described Bafaro as a "compassionate and caring person,
encouraging friend and a wonderful, dedicated father."

She said Bafaro's "recent divorce was immensely stressful and an
unsettling event for him. The guilt over his failure and perceived
impact on his . . . son . . . affects him every day."

Bafaro is charged with conspiracy to distribute and import marijuana
and possession with intent to distribute pot. 
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