TRUCKER GETS 18 MONTHS FOR ROLE IN SMUGGLING DRUGS ACROSS BORDER

Jansen Basically A 'Law-Abiding' Citizen, Lawyer Says

A law-abiding Fraser Valley farm boy was lured into the cross-border
drug trade because he found himself living in "a hotbed for marijuana
drug trafficking," his lawyer claims in U.S. court documents.

Robert Leen said trucker Richard Jansen didn't aspire to belong to an
international drug-smuggling ring, but that everyone around him
growing up in Abbotsford got involved in the illicit industry.

"In the mid-1990s, Abbotsford, B.C. became a hotbed for marijuana
drug trafficking activity. Many of the Canadian drug traffickers in
this case and others that have flooded our court met each other in
the Abbotsford area during their middle school and high school
years," Leen said in arguing for leniency for his client.

"Richard had many adolescent friends who pursued this readily
accessible unlawful activity. When Richard himself became involved in
drug trafficking, it didn't seem like such a bad thing."

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Robert Lasnik sentenced Jansen last
Friday to just 18 months behind bars and three years of supervised
release after the B.C. man pleaded guilty to trucking 158 kilos of
pot across the border last June, concealed in commercial fibreglass.
The leader of the drug ring and long-time Jansen pal, Rob Shannon,
was sentenced last month to 20 years in a U.S. jail.

The original indictment filed against Shannon, Jansen, Devron Quast
and others said the drug ring was working for the benefit of the
Hells Angels in B.C.

Quast, who testified at Shannon's sentencing, is to be sentenced in June.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Cornell asked for a three-year
sentence for Jansen, followed by a period of supervised release.

"The investigation revealed that the defendant was involved in the
conspiracy for only a matter of months and that his role was limited
to serving as a courier for the organization," Cornell said in his
sentencing memo.

Leen called Jansen "a farm boy at heart" who still "rises every
morning before dawn."

He hooked up with his old school pals and agreed to drive large
quantities of pot across the B.C.-Washington State border, Leen said.

"Richard never went the way of Jody York, Devron Quast, Robert
Shannon or some of the others, like Ferren Doctor, who were essential
parts of the drug-trafficking organization and integral to the
organization's success," Leen said.

"Richard never aspired to be an investor, manager or someone with
supervisory authority. Although it might seem odd to say, Richard is,
at his core, a law-abiding man."

The Vancouver Sun earlier revealed that Jansen, York and Shannon set
up a Langley trucking company called Image Logistics in 2002,
specializing in cross-border trips, according to its own ads.

Because Jansen had been out on bail, he will have a few weeks to
surrender himself to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to begin his
sentence, Emily Langlie, of the U.S. Attorney's office said Tuesday.

Leen said Jansen has already "suffered mightily over the past few
months as he has come to grips with the significance of his criminal
behaviour and its destructive consequences."