GreenSurfer
Well-Known Member
B.C. man loses $600,000 home after pot conviction
Chad Skelton, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, August 15, 2008
VANCOUVER - A B.C. judge has ordered a 59-year-old marijuana grower on the Sunshine Coast to turn over his mortgage-free $600,000 home to the government.
"The value of the equity in this property would appear to be higher than that in any other reported cases," Provincial Court Judge Carol Baird Ellan wrote in a ruling ordering Roy Sundstrom to turn over his Roberts Creek, B.C., acreage to the government.
More than 30 B.C. marijuana growers have had their homes forfeited in recent years under laws that allow the government to seize crime-related property.
However, many of the seized homes were heavily mortgaged, meaning the financial hit to the offender was far more modest.
Sundstrom's lawyer Jay Solomon said his client - who has no prior criminal record - is being punished for owning his house outright.
"There's an unfairness if one person is being penalized essentially $100,000 versus $600,000," said Solomon.
"He suffered a more serious penalty because he bought the property 20 years ago when property on the Sunshine Coast was cheap."
Roberts Creek is located 60 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.
Robert Prior, chief federal prosecutor for B.C., said Sundstrom has only himself to blame.
"Certainly the more money someone has wrapped up in a property, the greater they might feel the loss," said Prior.
"Whether it's fair or not, that individual knew what risk they were taking." Prior added the decision illustrates that growing marijuana in B.C. is a high-risk gamble.
"It's a pretty strong message . . . from the courts that people could face some pretty significant consequences if convicted," he said.
Sundstrom pleaded guilty to production of marijuana and possession for the purposes of trafficking after police raided his home in December 2006.
He argued in court that he didn't know he risked losing his home and that he should receive a $75,000 fine or only lose a portion of his equity.
In a decision last year, Quebec's Court of Appeal ruled that a marijuana grower in that province should only lose half the value of his house.
Vancouver Sun
Chad Skelton, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, August 15, 2008
VANCOUVER - A B.C. judge has ordered a 59-year-old marijuana grower on the Sunshine Coast to turn over his mortgage-free $600,000 home to the government.
"The value of the equity in this property would appear to be higher than that in any other reported cases," Provincial Court Judge Carol Baird Ellan wrote in a ruling ordering Roy Sundstrom to turn over his Roberts Creek, B.C., acreage to the government.
More than 30 B.C. marijuana growers have had their homes forfeited in recent years under laws that allow the government to seize crime-related property.
However, many of the seized homes were heavily mortgaged, meaning the financial hit to the offender was far more modest.
Sundstrom's lawyer Jay Solomon said his client - who has no prior criminal record - is being punished for owning his house outright.
"There's an unfairness if one person is being penalized essentially $100,000 versus $600,000," said Solomon.
"He suffered a more serious penalty because he bought the property 20 years ago when property on the Sunshine Coast was cheap."
Roberts Creek is located 60 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.
Robert Prior, chief federal prosecutor for B.C., said Sundstrom has only himself to blame.
"Certainly the more money someone has wrapped up in a property, the greater they might feel the loss," said Prior.
"Whether it's fair or not, that individual knew what risk they were taking." Prior added the decision illustrates that growing marijuana in B.C. is a high-risk gamble.
"It's a pretty strong message . . . from the courts that people could face some pretty significant consequences if convicted," he said.
Sundstrom pleaded guilty to production of marijuana and possession for the purposes of trafficking after police raided his home in December 2006.
He argued in court that he didn't know he risked losing his home and that he should receive a $75,000 fine or only lose a portion of his equity.
In a decision last year, Quebec's Court of Appeal ruled that a marijuana grower in that province should only lose half the value of his house.
Vancouver Sun
