David Burke
Whistler Question
Two B.C. men, including one from Pemberton, last week were sentenced to a year and a day in jail for their part in a case involving the smuggling of marijuana by helicopter into the United States.
Shane Menzel of Pemberton and Paul McCluskey of Coquitlam were also sentenced on Friday (April 14) in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years of supervised release, said Emily Langlie, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
A third man charged in the case, Jake Humphrey of Squamish, faces sentencing in front of Judge John Coughenour this Friday (April 21), Langlie said.
U.S. authorities arrested the three on Sept. 7, 2005, after they were discovered in a remote part of Skagit County, Washington State, offloading approximately 123 pounds of marijuana from a helicopter. In an affadavit, U.S. officials said Menzel was the pilot of the Robinson R-22 helicopter and that Humphrey and McCluskey had driven across the border to take part in the operation.
The three were charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to import marijuana, possession with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana on board an aircraft. As part of a plea-bargain arrangement, Judge Coughenour sentenced Menzel and McCluskey on the first charge and the latter three charges were dismissed, Langlie said.
All three men pleaded guilty late last year.
The sentence of a year and a day allows U.S. authorities to consider releasing the men before the full sentence has been served if they behave well while in prison, Langlie said.
"If the sentence is less than a year, you would do that exact amount of time, so a year and a day actually works in their favour," she said.
While the men must serve their time in a U.S. prison, they will be allowed to return to Canada to serve their probation under the supervision of Canadian authorities, Langlie said. However, if they were to violate any conditions of their release, "they would have to come back before the judge and could be incarcerated for the remainder of that five years," she said.
