Reasons for Sentence

Introduction

COURT FILE NO.: CR-22-00000208-0000
CR-22-30000389-0000
CR-23-30000064-0000
DATE: 2025-04-24
ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE

BETWEEN:
His Majesty the King – and – Ammaan Charley

G. Crisp, for the Crown
A. Charley, Self-represented
P. Rochman, Amicus Curiae

HEARD: March 7, 2025

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

P.A. Schreck

I. Facts

A. The Offences

[1] Over the course of several months in 2020, Ammaan Charley was a member of, and had a leadership role in, a criminal organization whose activities included drug trafficking, robbery and firearms offences. Following a lengthy trial, Mr. Charley was convicted of a number of serious offences, including counselling others to point firearms, possession of a prohibited firearm, conspiracy to commit robbery, trafficking in controlled substances, and a number of criminal organization offences.

[2] Mr. Charley is a 32-year-old Black man who was born and grew up in Toronto and who has a significant criminal record which includes convictions for related offences. He has been in custody since his arrest on August 22, 2020.

[3] The Crown seeks a total sentence of imprisonment for 18 to 20 years, as well as an order pursuant to s. 743.6 of the Criminal Code that Mr. Charley serve at least half of his total sentence before being eligible for parole. In addition to this, the Crown takes the position that Mr. Charley should only receive credit for the time he spent in presentence custody on a “one-for-one” basis.

[4] Mr. Charley is self-represented but has been assisted by amicus curiae. He submits that a total sentence of nine to 12 years is appropriate, that there should be no order delaying parole eligibility and that he should be given the ordinary credit of one and one-half days for each day spent in presentence custody.

[5] The sentencing in this case requires the court to give primacy to the sentencing objectives of deterrence and denunciation while respecting the principle of totality and ensuring, to the extent possible, that whatever prospects for rehabilitation Mr. Charley may have are preserved. The following reasons explain how I have attempted to accomplish this.

B. Mr. Charley’s Circumstances

(i) Background

[8] Mr. Charley is 32 years old and was born and grew up in Toronto. His parents separated when he was five years old because his father was deported from Canada. Mr. Charley maintained a relationship with his father, who died in 2017.

[9] Mr. Charley was raised by his mother. She unfortunately became ill in 2009 due to a series of brain aneurysms and a thyroid condition. According to Mr. Charley, this resulted in his mother being less strict than she had been. As well, Mr. Charley’s mother had been absent from his life for some period of time due to her own involvement in the criminal justice system. Mr. Charley began to associate with individuals involved in criminal activity while in high school, which his mother believes was due to her absence in his life.

[10] Mr. Charley obtained his secondary school diploma. He took business administration courses while in custody on earlier charges.

(ii) Criminal Record

[11] Mr. Charley has a youth record with several entries, including some for firearms offences and robbery. As an adult, he was found guilty of failing to comply with a recognizance and obstructing a peace officer in 2012, for which he received a total sentence of 30 days in jail. In 2013, he was convicted of failing to comply with a recognizance, failing to attend court and unauthorized possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle, for which he received a sentence of 61 days in addition to four months of presentence custody.

[12] Mr. Charley’s next convictions were for robbery with a firearm, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a firearm contrary to a prohibition order and aggravated assault. Although the convictions were registered in 2019, the offences were committed in 2015. Mr. Charley received a total effective sentence of seven and a half years and one day, all of which had been served by the time he was sentenced. He was also placed on probation for a period of three years, which included a condition that he not possess any weapons, and a firearms prohibition order was imposed. Mr. Charley was subject to those orders at the time he committed the offences he is now being sentenced for.

[13] Mr. Charley was arrested on the charges he is being sentenced for on August 22, 2020 and has been in custody at the Toronto East Detention Centre (“TEDC”) since that time. I will discuss the conditions of Mr. Charley’s presentence custody later in these reasons.

II. Analysis

A. Relevant Sentencing Principles

(i) The Fundamental Purpose of Sentencing

[14] Section 718 of the Criminal Code provides that the “fundamental purpose of sentencing is to protect society and to contribute, along with crime prevention initiatives, to respect for the law and the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society ….” This is to be accomplished through the imposition of just sanctions that have one or more of several objectives enumerated in s. 718(a) to (f), including denunciation, general and specific deterrence and rehabilitation. As the Ontario Court of Appeal recently observed in R. v. Morris, 2021 ONCA 680, para 58:

Those objectives will not necessarily point toward the same sentencing disposition. The individualization of the sentencing process requires sentencing judges to prioritize and blend the different objectives of sentencing so as to properly reflect the seriousness of the offence and the responsibility of the offender.

While there will rarely be only one possible fit sentence, s. 718.1 of the Code provides that any sentence that is ultimately imposed “must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender”: R. v. Ipeelee, 2012 SCC 13, para 37; R. v. Friesen, 2020 SCC 9, para 30.

(ii) Conspiracy

[15] Mr. Charley was found guilty of several conspiracy-related offences. In determining the appropriate sentence for conspiracy, the sentencing range associated with the substantive offence is relevant, but I have kept in mind that the absence of a completed crime is relevant to the gravity of the offence and sentences for conspiracy are generally lower than sentences for the corresponding substantive offence: Lake v. Canada (Minister of Justice), 2008 SCC 23, para 44; R. v. Marshall, 2021 ONCA 623, para 59. Where a person is convicted of both conspiracy and the substantive offence, the sentences will usually be concurrent: Lake, at 44.

(iii) Counselling

[16] Mr. Charley was also convicted of counselling another person to commit an offence that was not committed, namely, possession of a firearm. Section 464(a) of the Criminal Code provides that a person who counsels another person to commit an indictable offence that is not committed is liable to the same punishment as a person who attempts to commit the offence. Section 463(b) provides that an attempt to commit an offence is punishable by up to one half of the maximum sentence for the offence if committed.

(iv) Criminal Organization Offences

[17] Mr. Charley was convicted of committing offences and instructing the commission of offences “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization,” contrary to s. 467.12 (in the case of commission) and s. 467.13 (in the case of instructing) of the Criminal Code. The offences are punishable by maximum sentences of imprisonment for up to 14 years (for s. 467.12) or life (for s. 467.13). Section 467.14 requires that any sentence imposed for these offences be served consecutively to any sentence imposed “for an offence arising out of the same event or series of events.”

[18] The principles applicable to sentencing for criminal organization offences were explained in R. v. Beauchamp, 2015 ONCA 260, paras 260-262:

In R. v. Mastop, 2013 BCCA 494, para 46, the British Columbia Court of Appeal described the overall purpose of s. 467 in this fashion:

The overall objective of the criminal organization legislation is to protect society from the wide-ranging effects, violent and otherwise, of criminals who work together as a group, as well as to prevent and deter organized criminal activities. Offenders who regularly commit crimes together are a greater menace to society than an individual offender working alone.

We endorse these comments. Protection of the public, deterrence and denunciation are the primary sentencing objectives for s. 467 offences. We also agree with the Crown’s submission that the achievement of these objectives depends on the prospect of significant penal sanctions for organized criminal conduct.

As a consequence of the wide sweep of acts targeted by the criminal organization provisions, there is no established range of sentence for s. 467 offences: Mastop, para 68. This recognizes that s. 467, including s. 467.12(1), can apply to any conduct, including otherwise lawful conduct, that furthers the activities of a criminal organization.

[19] Section 718.2(a)(iv) of the Code, which provides that it is an aggravating factor where an offence is committed for the benefit of a criminal organization, continues to apply even where the accused is also convicted of a s. 467.12 or s. 467.13 offence: Beauchamp, paras 323-327.

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