A Hells Angel associate who played a central role in a massive cocaine conspiracy has gotten a break on sentencing after a judge concluded he had endured “particularly harsh” conditions in pre-trial custody.
The Crown and defence had made a joint submission that Kevin Van Kalkeren, one of eight men arrested following a reverse sting RCMP operation, should receive an 18-year jail term for being a directing mind in the conspiracy.
But in imposing sentence on Van Kalkeren on Friday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carol Ross made the unusual decision to depart from the joint submission.
The judge cited the conditions Van Kalkeren had been subjected to while being held in separate confinement at North Fraser Pretrial Centre since his arrest in August 2012 and found those conditions amounted to a mitigating factor on sentencing.
She said the lengthy duration of Van Kalkeren’s time in remand, his social isolation, lack of access to exercise facilities and lack of privacy amounted to particularly harsh conditions. And she noted that he suffered from depression at the time of his arrest and that his symptoms had worsened over time.
“In my view, particularly in light of the circumstances of Mr. Van Kalkeren’s custody in remand, 18 years is not a fit sentence,” the judge said Friday.
“I have concluded, Mr. Van Kalkeren, that a fit sentence in all the circumstances is 16 years.”
In January, the 47-year-old father of two became the third accused to enter a guilty plea, in his case a plea to one count of conspiracy to import cocaine.
The judge found that Van Kalkeren played a leading role when he met undercover police officers posing as members of a South American drug cartel.
After a series of meetings with undercover cops, including meetings in Mexico and Panama City, a reverse sting sale of 500 kilograms of cocaine at a price of $14.8 million was negotiated.
Van Kalkeren provided at least some of nearly $4 million in cash that was paid to the undercover cops in exchange for 200 kilograms of what was purported to be cocaine. An additional 300 kilograms of the drug were to be provided later, fronted at a price of $10.8 million.
The judge said the aggravating factors on sentencing included the nature and quantity of the drugs involved and that Van Kalkeren intended it to be the first in a series of transactions.
“Mr. Van Kalkeren occupied a central role. He had the first contact with the undercover officers and initiated negotiations. He played a leading role in the negotiations that followed.
“He was a decision maker with respect to all of the terms of the agreement.”
After receiving credit for pre-sentence custody, Van Kalkeren has 10 years and 4 1/2 months of prison time remaining. He will be eligible to apply for day parole after about three years and full parole after about 3 1/2 years in prison.
The Crown argued that the circumstances of the case called for an order that Van Kalkeren serve half of his jail term before being eligible to apply for parole but the judge declined to make that order.
Two of his co-accused — Murray Trekofski and Orhan Saydam — previously entered guilty pleas. Trekofski, who was not one of the principal conspirators, received a sentence of eight years in prison following a Crown appeal while Saydam was sentenced to three years in prison.
Final submissions by Crown and defence in the trial of the five remaining accused — David Giles, vice-president of the Kelowna chapter of the Hells Angels, Hells Angel sergeant at arms Brian Oldham, and Hells Angels associates James Howard, Michael Read and Shawn Womacks — are scheduled for June.
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