The Seattle Times
SEATTLE (AP) -- So many Canadians charged with drug smuggling in Western Washington are jumping bail that judges are being asked to keep them locked up pending trial, government lawyers say.
Canadian bail jumpers who scoot back across the border are beyond the reach of U.S. arrest warrants. They face few if any repercussions in Canada, and extradition can take years, assistant U.S. attorney Patricia Lally said.
“Our office is becoming increasingly concerned about the disappearance of our Canadian national defendants,” Lally said.
“If we have to seek extradition in every case where a Canadian doesn’t appear, we would be spending all our time just processing extradition documents,” she said.
In the first count of its kind, U.S. Pretrial Services found 47 Canadians were considered for pretrial release in Western Washington between June and December, with 26 released on bond and seven missing court dates.
That’s a failure-to-appear rate of nearly 27 percent, compared with 1 to 2 percent for all defendants, government lawyers say.
“It seems like it’s a recent phenomenon,” said Timothy McTighe, head at Pretrial Services.
Lally said she didn’t want to take any chances when Achilles Grakul and Raymund Sarandi were arrested in January after investigators said the pair crossed the border with 448 pounds of “B.C. Bud,” British Columbia-grown marijuana.
Another truck authorities said was involved contained 173 pounds of marijuana.
Over Lally’s objections, a U.S. magistrate set bail for Sarandi at $10,000, but she appealed and U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton ordered last month that he remain in custody pending trial.
“It seems to me it’s an unfair sort of thing to say just because a person is Canadian that they are inherently more at risk to flee, especially in cases where they post bond,” said Michael Nance, Sarandi’s lawyer.
The reason for the problem is unclear but may stem from U.S. efforts to stem the influx of B.C. Bud, some law enforcement officials said.
Most pot grown indoors in British Columbia is smoked south of the border, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. John Ward said.
“There is no question that there has been a huge increase in the traffic of B.C. marijuana to the U.S.,” Ward said.
Defense lawyers add that drug smugglers may be surprised by mandatory minimum sentences much longer than in Canada.
“If they don’t come back, it’s because they’re terrified,” said Jeffrey Steinborn, who represents Grakul. “They apply these laws to the little people. You start at five years on this crime.”