A North Vancouver drug dealer originally from the Philippines has been handed a more lenient sentence by a judge in order not to jeopardize his immigration status.
Mark Ian Suerto Abude, 29, was recently sentenced to just under six months in jail in B.C. Supreme Court after pleading guilty to trafficking cocaine in a dial-a-dope operation between July and October 2012 in North Vancouver.
According to court documents, Abude sold a total of more than 52 grams of cocaine to undercover police officers for $3,890 in eight different transactions between July 20, 2012 and Oct. 11, 2012.
The largest transaction was for 27 grams of cocaine, which he sold to undercover officers for $1,800.
Abude told B.C. Supreme Court Justice William Ehrcke his drug dealing was financially motivated. At the time, the father of three children was working as an apprentice in the construction trades and making $12 an hour. He said he got involved in the dial-a-dope operation after being approached by strangers who told him he could make some extra money.
A Crown prosecutor in the case asked the judge to impose a sentence of 12 months in jail, pointing out Abude had sold more cocaine than four other people who were nabbed by police in the undercover operation.
But Abude, a permanent resident of Canada who immigrated when he was 14, asked the judge to consider a sentence of under six months, saying that would make it possible for him to appeal a deportation order.
The judge agreed, calling the threat of deportation, a “collateral consequence” of the conviction “which may justify a slightly lower sentence than would otherwise be imposed for this offence.”
“Were it not for your immigration status, I would have imposed a lengthier sentence,” he added.
