Tears flow in packed courtroom as convicted cocaine traffickers try to avoid 12-year sentence

Two men convicted of wholesale drug trafficking could face12 years in prison if federal Crown prosecutors get their way.

In October 2017, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Colleen Suche found Jared Romeo Devloo, 39, and Jason Morris Ong, 32, guilty of conspiracy to traffic cocaine and of being members of a conspiracy to traffic cocaine at a wholesale level.

"They were operating at the highest level of cocaine trafficking ... that puts them in the highest range of sentencing,"said federal Crown prosecutor Judy Kliewer at the sentencing hearing Monday.

During the 2017 trial theCrown successfully argued that the men were wholesale traffickers dealing in kilos of cocaine. And that Devloofound the customers and set the prices and terms of the transactions, whileOng managed the specifics of the deal and dealt with the couriers who would deliver the drug packages.

Family members and supporters of both men wept while they spoke.

Devloo told the judge he made mistakes and had poor judgment.He got choked up when he talked about wanting to make his son proud.

"I should have known better I'm an embarrassment to my family, friends, my community,"said Devloo.

Ong cried while he talked about the effects of his actions on his wife and three kids.

"It was wrong of me to be involved," said Ong."I realize how much this has ruined my life."

He said he will do whatever it takes to be better.

"I'm truly sorry and will ask your forgiveness," Ong told the judge.

Devlooisa successfulproperty developer andowner ofJerwayHoldings Ltd. a company thathasbuilt a number of homes across the city, including a 30-unit condo in St. Norbert. He was one of the pallbearers for Frank or Franco Nucci, a high-level cocaine dealer with ties to organized crime who was shot to death in Montreal in 2005.

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Devlooand Ong were arrested in 2014 as part ofProject Distress,an investigation by theManitoba Integrated Organized Crime Task Force, which included officers with the Winnipeg Police Service,RCMPand Brandon Police Service.

Project Distressbegan in October 2013 and focused on high-level members of drug trafficking cells in Manitoba, with connections to Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. During the 15-monthcovert investigation, officers used wiretaps to intercept more than 80,000 private conversations.Police seized more than six kilograms of cocaine, eight kilograms of methamphetamine, and smaller quantities ofdilaudid,oxycodone,steriods,percocetand marijuana.

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Supporters pack courtroom

Both men were in court but did not speak with one another.Dozens of friends and supporters also packed the courtroom for the sentencing hearing.

Businessman John Garcea, whose company Granite Concrete worked on True North Square, and real estate lawyer Sid Soronow were both in attendance.Disgraced Winnipeg police officer Ken Houston also made an appearance but left before the afternoon break.

About 20 people, including Garcea and Soronow, wrotecharacter reference letters to the court in support of Devloo.In his letter Garcea said he's known Devloo for 20 years.

"I would consider him to be a very loyal and honest friend and business associate," wrote Garcea.

Kliewer said the number of character reference lettersshowed they had many opportunities to make better choices, and did not have to traffic drugs to support their families.

The court heard that Devloo didn't struggle with addictions or mental health issues.

"He's a mature and sophisticated individual," Kliewer said"He was running a business. He was building condos. He knew what he was doing."

"He's motivated by greed."

In addition to 12 years in prison, the Crown is asking the court to impose a $213,000 fine on Devloo. Kliewer said that is the amount of money the police agent paid for fourkilograms of cocaine during the covert investigation.

"There is no rehabilitative plan that can address the reasons for getting involved," said Kliewer.

Devloo'slawyer SaulSimmonds said an appropriate sentence for Devloo would be in therange of four to six years.

He said Devloo has already suffered a lot and said that he lost his business because of the negative media attention he got after his arrest.

Justice Suche pointed out to Simmonds that Devloowas already facing drug charges in Alberta and had been out on bail at the time of his arrest. Those charges were later stayed.

The Crown said Ong was also living a double life which he hid well.

"No one in his family had a clue what he was doing," said Kliewer."This isn't a case where someone was addicted and started selling to support their addiction.But he was motivated by the easy work and the easy money."

Ong cried while he talked about the effects of his actions on his wife and three kids.

"It was wrong of me to be involved," said Ong."I realize how much this has ruined my life."

Ong will likely be deported once he's finished serving his sentence. His lawyer Kristen Jones said that although he came to Canada from the Philippines about 15 years ago, he's not a Canadian citizen.

Jones said under theImmigration and Refugee Protection Act, anyoneconvicted of a crime with a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years or more and any person who spends sixmonths or more in jail will be deported.

Jones asked the court to consider asix- or seven-year sentence, not the 12 years the Crown wants.

JusticeSuchehas reserved her decision untilAug.24.

Devlooinsulated himself: Crown

Simmonds said his client was not the leader of the drug trafficking operation and was merelytrying to help someone he thought wasa friend.

"There's no suggestion that MrDevloowas intricately involved in the top of the drug distribution network," saidSimmonds.

The court heard that during the investigation Devloo met with a man at Cafe 22 who at the time he didn't know was an agentworking with police. During the conversation, Devlooexpressed concern the restaurant was wiretapped and spoke quietly and used hand gestures when discussing cocaine trafficking.

Kliewer said the investigation revealed thatDevloowas aware of police techniques and took steps to insulatehimselfbehind others, and insisted the agent do the same.

"He demonstrated the highest level of sophistication," saidKliewer.

"Never touch anything yourself. Never do anything yourself. Always let someone else do it."

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She said Devlooknew about other cocaine traffickers that were arrested in a different police investigation dubbed Project Sideshow,and that he told the agent that their downfall was that they didn't use PGP technology to encrypt their text messages.

Kliewer said the defence lawyers were wrong to suggest "you must be wearing a patch and you must be carrying a gun" to be sentenced to 12 years.She said a 12-year sentence is not reserved for the worst of the worst.

"Life is the worst case, worst offender" said Kliewer.

Both Ong and Devloo will remain out on bail until Suchedelivers her decision.