Sentence for Hells Angel should take into account failing health, court told

Lawyer for vice-president of Kelowna chapter says client’s future ‘looks bleak’

The failing health of a senior Hells Angel convicted in a major cocaine conspiracy is a mitigating factor on sentencing, a defence lawyer argued Wednesday.

In September, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carol Ross found David Giles, vice-president of the Kelowna chapter, guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and possession for the purpose of trafficking. Three of his co-accused were also convicted.

On Wednesday, the second day of a sentencing hearing for Giles, the accused’s lawyer told the judge that Giles suffered from cirrhosis of the liver and is at the “end stage” of the disease.

“That means that unless they do something, you’re done,” Paul Gill told the judge, adding that Giles’s future “looks bleak.”

Gill said Giles also suffers from hepatitis C, which was diagnosed around February 2012, near the beginning of the undercover police operation that resulted in the arrests of Giles and his co-accused.

Gill said hepatitis C, a virus that attacks the liver, should not normally be fatal and is treatable for many people, but it must be diagnosed within a reasonable time.

“Mr. Giles is past the point where it’s treatable,” said Gill, adding that Giles’s liver was “shutting down” on him.

Gill said he has had trouble getting up-todate medical information from the North Fraser Pretrial Centre, where Giles is currently incarcerated, and fears his client might not get the liver transplant that he needs.

“My concern is that he’s never going to get on the real transplant list,” he said.

Gill said that Giles also suffers from a rare condition involving a loss of brain function related to the loss of liver function.

The Crown earlier said that while the father of three’s medical condition deserves sympathy, the offender had had ill health during the conspiracy and that did not stop him from pursuing his criminal activity.

Court heard that Giles and Kevin Van Kalkeren were targeted in a reverse sting police undercover operation that included meetings between the accused and cops posing as members of a drug cartel in Vancouver, Montreal, Mexico City and Panama City.

In June 2012, Giles and Van Kalkeren met with the undercover cops at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver and provided $2 million as a down payment for the purported delivery of 200 kilograms of cocaine.

The next month, the accused met with the undercover cops and discussed the possibility of obtaining another 300 kilograms of cocaine.

In August 2012, the conspirators provided another $2 million for delivery of the initial 200 kilograms. Later that month, arrangements were made for the delivery of the drugs at a warehouse and police made arrests.

On Tuesday, Crown counsel Chris Greenwood said Giles was at the “very highest level” of the drug trade and motivated entirely by profit.

“The reality is that Mr. Giles wanted high quality cocaine at a competitive price so that he could move it as quickly as possible,” he said. “He played a leading role in both conspiracies for which he’s been convicted.”

The defence countered that Giles wasn’t the leader of the operation.

Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of between 18 and 20 years for Giles. Gill has argued that a more appropriate sentence for his client is between 12 and 16 years.

Giles, who has remained in custody since his arrest in August 2012, will be entitled to credit for pre-sentence custody of just under seven years.

The judge is expected to hand down her sentence on March 31.