ONTARIO

SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE

COURT FILE NO.: Crim J(P) 918/11
DATE: 20120207

B E T W E E N:

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

D. D'Iorio, for the Crown

• and -

MICHAEL BLAZEVIC and SARGON BABA

J. Collins for Mr. Blazevic
B. Moss for Mr. Baba

Defendants

HEARD: February 1, 2012

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

Ricchetti, J.

Overview

[ 1 ] On January 9, 2012, after a trial without jury, Mr. Blazevic was found guilty of:

i) possessing a loaded restricted firearm, contrary to section 95(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada ;

ii) possessing a firearm; to wit: a handgun knowing he was not a holder of a license, contrary to section 92(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada . This count was stayed pursuant to Keinapple ;

iii) conspiring to commit an indictable offence, unlawful confinement of a person at 52 Madelaine Crescent Brampton, contrary to section 465(1) (c) of the Criminal Code of Canada ; and

iv) possessing a firearm while prohibited from doing so by reason of orders made pursuant to section 109 of the Criminal Code of Canada , contrary to section 117.01 of the Criminal Code of Canada .

[ 2 ] On January 9, 2012, after a trial without jury, Mr. Baba was found guilty of:

(i) conspiring to commit an indictable offence, unlawful confinement of a person at 52 Madelaine Crescent Brampton, contrary to section 465(1) (c) of the Criminal Code of Canada .

[ 3 ] A sentencing hearing was held on February 1, 2012.

Summary of The Facts

[3] Detailed facts are set out in my Reasons for Judgment.

[ 4 ] On July 30, 2010, Constables Jeffery Parent and David Salvatore were on uniformed, community policing, bicycle patrol in Brampton. 1785 Queen Street in Brampton was part of their patrol area. 1785 Queen Street is a strip mall.

[ 5 ] On this day, Constables Salvatore and Parent decided to patrol the rear of the strip mall. Constable Salvatore saw a group of six men and two vehicles, an Infiniti and a Jeep. The six men were:

Michael Blazevic;

Sargon Baba;

Ertug Direkoglu;

Daine Edie;

Patrick Palmer; and

Phillip Ferreira.

[ 6 ] Mr. Baba and Mr. Palmer were standing near the open, rear passenger door of the Jeep using a laptop in the Jeep. Mr. Baba and Mr. Palmer were accessing the "Trevor James" account on usfleettracking.com. Upon seeing the police the men became nervous. Mr. Blazevic had a satchel over his shoulder which he was attempting to hide the satchel from the police.

[ 7 ] Mr. Palmer was the owner and driver of the Infiniti. Mr. Blazevic was the driver of the rental Jeep.

[ 8 ] Constable Salvatore conducted a search of the Jeep under The Liquor License Act . The rear seats of the Jeep had been folded down to form an open, large cargo area behind the front seats. Visible under the driver's seat, Constable Salvatore found a new, unused roll of duct tape. On the cargo area, he saw a number of items including four engaged zip ties consisting of three interlocked zip ties each, essentially homemade handcuffs, and black, hand fitting gloves.

[ 9 ] During this same period of time, Constable Salvatore saw Mr. Baba leaning against the passenger side of the Jeep concealing something behind him. Constable Salvatore went over and found what appeared to be a walkie talkie (also a scanner) clipped onto the outside of the Jeep car door. Constable Salvatore put the walkie/talkie/scanner on the roof of the Jeep and continued his Liquor License Act search of the passenger side of the Jeep. He saw the laptop in "sleep" mode. The laptop had a USB internet stick in the side of it.

[ 10 ] The police learned the Jeep was a rental vehicle belonging to Hertz Canada and had been reported stolen. The police immediately arrested all six men.

[ 11 ] Constable McFadden opened the laptop which had been seized from the Jeep. It was in “sleep” mode. Constable McFadden placed his finger on the “touch pad”. The screen lit up showing an active web site running on the laptop – usfleettracking.com . The screen showed a geographical image of the Brampton area. The site was from US Fleet Tracking Corp. logged in to the “Trevor James” account.

[ 12 ] Constable McFadden contacted US Fleet Tracking Corp. This corporation sells or rents GPS units to purchasers, such as a transportation company, to put these units in its vehicles and then track “live” the vehicles’ locations through usfleettracking.com .

[ 13 ] US Fleet Tracking Corp. provided Constable McFadden access, on a police computer, to the “Trevor James” account.

[ 14 ] Using usfleettracking.com and the “Trevor James” account, the police were able to determine that a US Fleet Tracking Corp. GPS unit had been placed on a Mercedes vehicle belonging to “Marcel Jones” of 52 Madelaine Crescent, Brampton. Another tracking device was found on Mr. Jones' vehicle but there was no further evidence regarding this second device.

[ 15 ] Mr. Marcel Jones resides at 52 Madelaine Crescent, Brampton with his wife and children. Mr. Jones had no idea a GPS device had been attached to his vehicle or that he was being tracked. Mr. Jones is a business person of some significant net worth, owning several successful businesses.

[ 16 ] The items were seized by the police during the course of this investigation included:

(i) the Jeep contents included:

• one roll of duct tape – unused – found under the driver’s side seat;

• four homemade zip tie handcuffs - each of which were created by three interlocking zip ties – found on the Jeep rear cargo area;

• one pair of form fitting “Easton” black gloves – also found in the cargo area;

• a camouflage coloured mask located in the glove box. This mask would cover everything below the eyes of the wearer;

• Mr. Baba’s laptop;

• attached to Mr. Baba's laptop was a Fido Internet stick used for connecting the laptop to the internet wirelessly at any location;

• a laptop case which contained an opened bag of zip ties similar to the ones which had been used to make the homemade zip tie handcuffs;

• a Uniden “Trunk Tracker III” – the walkie/talkie/scanner - located on the outside rear passenger door handle; and

• in the driver’s door pocket, there was a black zippered case which contained a handgun – a 40 calibre Smith and Wesson. There was a magazine in the firearm and there were 13 rounds of ammunition in the magazine.

(ii) Mr. Blazevic’s satchel included:

• A container of “Spike dog repellent” - which can be used on animals and, no doubt, on persons, to disable them;

• a black flick knife;

• black metal handcuffs; and

• black form fitting gloves;

(iii) Mr. Palmer’s iPhone included:

• An extracted picture file from usfleettracking.com showing a typical login screen and a map of North America;

• an aerial view from usfleettracking.com showing the Dixie Road and Madelaine Crescent area in Brampton;

• a video taken from the passenger’s seat looking out onto the surrounding traffic taken on July 27, 2010 at 5:28 pm. Mr. Palmer and Mr. Ferreira had surreptitiously followed and took a video of Mr. Jones in his Mercedes. At one point, having followed Mr. Jones for some time and being concerned Mr. Jones might see them following him, Mr. Ferreira says: “Nobody can be that stupid. If this guy’s that stupid, oh fuck, he’s going to be easy....”

(iv) Mr. Baba’s laptop included in its memory:

• an Internet aerial view of the Dixie Road area accessed at 11:50 a.m. on July 30, 2010;

• an Internet aerial view of the backyards which included Mr. Jones’ home accessed at 11:50 a.m. on July 30, 2010;

• an Internet aerial view of the Dixie Road and Madelaine Crescent area (including Mr. Jones home) accessed at 11:50 a.m. on July 30, 2010;

• an Internet aerial view of Madelaine Crescent area accessed at 11:50 a.m. on July 30, 2010;

• a photograph of the front of Mr. Jones’ home at 52 Madelaine Crescent taken on July 12, 2010;

• the laptop had last accessed usfleettracking.com at 11:50 a.m. on July 30, 2010;

• the laptop had accessed usfleettracking.com 17 times prior to July 30, 2010; and

• the laptop had accessed mytrackingsource.com on July 30, 2010 at 2:01 a.m. and had accessed this site 16 times prior to July 30, 2010. There is no further evidence on what this site does or whether it had any connection with the activities of the six men on July 30, 2010.

(v) Mr. Baba’s cell phone included:

• there are a number of text messages. One message at 2:09 a.m. July 30, 2010 refers to “ mytrackingsource.com ” and whether someone was “on the move”.

(vi) the Infiniti contents included:

• Two pairs of black gloves – one pair was identical to the pair found in Mr. Blazevic’s satchel;

• a black toque;

• a black long sleeve shirt;

• a black bandana;

• a screw driver; and

• two black toques.

(vii) On Mr. Jones’ Mercedes was found a magnetic, sealed container which inside had an electronic GPS device for tracking by usfleettracking.com on the “Trevor James” account. The GPS unit has the same number as the unit being tracked by the “Trevor James” account on usfleettracking.com .

[ 17 ] The Defence admitted:

• the firearm found in the Jeep was a loaded restricted firearm; and

• Mr. Blazevic was as of July 30, 2010 subject to a Prohibition Order under the Criminal Code .

[ 18 ] The execution of the conspiracy to unlawfully confine someone at 52 Madelaine Crescent, Brampton, was imminent when the police, by chance, happened to come upon the men at the rear of the strip mall on July 30, 2010.

[ 19 ] This was an elaborate criminal venture that would no doubt have had resulted in serious consequences to one or more of the residents of 52 Madelaine Crescent. As I state below, the planned criminal venture was a violent crime on unsuspecting persons in their home.

[ 20 ] I conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Mr. Blazevic had the major or primary role in the intended criminal venture because:

i. He was driving the Jeep;

ii. the Jeep contained the homemade zip tie handcuffs and the roll of duct tape;

iii. the Jeep contained gloves and disguises;

iv. he possessed a loaded gun;

v. the live tracking of Mr. Jones’ was being done from the Jeep;

vi. he possessed in his satchel metal handcuffs

vii. he possessed in his satchel a flick knife; and

viii. he possessed in his satchel the "repellent".

[ 21 ] Mr. Baba had a very significant role in the intended criminal venture because:

i. Mr. Baba was trying to prevent the police from discovering the walkie/talkie/scanner on the Jeep;

ii. Mr. Baba was using his laptop to track Mr. Jones at the moment the police arrived;

iii. Mr. Baba's computer had a photograph of Mr. Jones' home taken several weeks prior to July 30, 2010;

iv. Mr. Baba's laptop contained aerial views of Mr. Jones’ home and surrounding area;

v. Mr. Baba's computer bag had an open bag of the same zip ties of which the homemade handcuffs had been made; and

vi. Mr. Baba's laptop had previously accessed usfleettracking.com 17 times prior to July 30, 2010.

(Decision text continues exactly as provided.)

L. Ricchetti J.

Released: February 7, 2012

COURT FILE NO.: Crim J(P) 918/11
DATE: 20120207

ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE

B E T W E E N: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - and – MICHAEL BLAZEVIC and SARGON BABA Defendants

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
L. Ricchetti J.

Released: February 7, 2012