EX-SAILOR GETS YEAR FOR DRUGS

Military Police Trying To Crack Down On Hike In Illegal
Activities

A former Halifax sailor was sentenced to a year in prison Friday for
trafficking in cocaine and ecstasy as military police try to crack
down on a "drastic" increase in illegal drug activity.

Stephan David Ennis, an ordinary seaman at the time, sold a total of
10 grams of cocaine and four tabs of ecstasy to another sailor and an
undercover military police officer on Nov. 18 and 22, 2004, at Captain
Eli's Restaurant & Lounge on Young Street in Halifax.

"I am confident that one day you will consider that your arrest on
Dec. 6, 2004 was the best thing that could have ever happened to you,"
said Cmdr. Peter Lamont, the military judge presiding over the court
martial.

The sentence is to be served in a military prison in Edmonton, but the
judge notified Mr. Ennis that he had 24 hours to make an application
for a release pending an appeal.

Over the past five years, there has been a "drastic increase" in the
number of military personnel suspected to be involved in illegal drug
activity, said Maj. Gilles Sansterre, a military police officer with
the National Investigation Service.

In 2001, 94 Canadian Forces members were identified as "persons of
interest" who may be holding, using or trafficking drugs. In 2002, the
number jumped to 306. In 2003, it was 309 and the projected number for
last year was 320.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Ennis testified his life "completely spiralled
out of control" when he started using cocaine heavily in the summer of
2004.

The navy released the 22-year-old this past July for breaking his
promise to stay away from illegal drugs.

Since his arrest last year, Mr. Ennis testified he has "a whole new
group of friends," has been going to Narcotics Anonymous, church and
Bible study classes.

"The turning point for me in my life was these charges," he
said.

Now an interior painter who works in Clayton Park apartment buildings,
Mr. Ennis said his monthly income dropped from $2,400 to about $1,800
when he became a civilian.

The former sailor, who admitted he was addicted to cocaine in the
summer of 2004, testified he's been drug-free for 15 months.

"If you do stupid things, stupid things are going to happen to you,"
Mr. Ennis said.

His girlfriend, Christina June Ciappara, testified he has been staying
off drugs since they started dating this past spring.

"I feel confident I would be able to see it if he was using," said Ms.
Ciappara, a nurse.

Mr. Ennis had attempted to get his convictions stayed, arguing it was
entrapment when another sailor, Matt Saunders, then an able seaman,
got him to buy drugs twice for an undercover military police officer.
But Cmdr. Lamont dismissed the application, ruling he could find no
fault with the way military police did their investigation.

Mr. Saunders told investigators Mr. Ennis was selling eight-balls of
cocaine (about 3.5 grams) for $270, ecstasy at $15 a pill and three
grams of marijuana for $10 to military personnel at Stadacona's
Atlantic Block.

Mr. Saunders was fuzzy on some details when he testified and admitted
he was using cocaine last year.

"His memory is defective, perhaps as a result of his use of drugs,"
Cmdr. Lamont said.

But military police had other sources who indicated Mr. Ennis was
dealing drugs, he said.

"In my view there was reasonable suspicion" that he was supplying them
to sailors at CFB Halifax, Cmdr. Lamont said.

Mr. Ennis had argued Mr. Saunders pressured him into making the drug
buys. But Cmdr. Lamont pointed out Mr. Saunders took some cocaine in
exchange for arranging the first deal and $40 for the second.

"In my view, it cannot be said that the actions of the police in the
present case would have induced the average person to traffic in
drugs," the military judge said.

"The police did nothing more than offer the opportunity to Mr. Ennis
to sell contraband substances. . . . The defence of entrapment fails."

Mr. Ennis's lawyer had recommended he serve four months in
jail.

He has "extricated himself from the drug world," said Lt.-Col. Troy
Sweet, calling his client's offence "mere street trafficking . . . on
the very low scale."

But the prosecution argued for 18 months' imprisonment.

"These are without a doubt objectively serious offences," said Maj.
Steve Richards, adding the sentence needs to deter other people in the
military from drug trafficking.

Clinton Hoddinott, another sailor netted in the same three-week
undercover military police sting, has not had dates set for his
trafficking court martial.