‘His word is worthless’

Malek Sahouli to remain in custody after judge revokes his release while appeal pending on drug charge

A 25-year-old man who was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a drug operation will have to stay in custody while he appeals his conviction.

Malek Sahouli was sentenced in January for conspiracy to traffic marijuana after a drug investigation known as Project Lurid.

He appealed the conviction and was originally released on several conditions he didn’t follow, including reporting to the RCMP in Burnaby, B.C.

The RCMP eventually arrested Sahouli again in P.E.I.

After the federal Crown sought to have Sahouli’s release revoked, P.E.I. Court of Appeal Justice John Mitchell wrote in a recent decision that it was necessary to keep Sahouli in custody to ensure he attends his appeal hearing.

Sahouli ignored the conditions of his release, and in the past warrants had to be issued to ensure he appeared in court, Mitchell wrote.

“All we have is his undertaking to appear in court when the court requires him to do so and he has proven that his word is worthless.”

In 2014, Sahouli was one of several people arrested after an investigation that uncovered a network selling marijuana and methamphetamine in the Charlottetown area.

The operation Sahouli was part of involved moving drugs from Montreal to P.E.I. through New Brunswick.

When the police arrested Sahouli during one of several trips to Montreal, they seized 38 pounds of marijuana, $44,000 in cash, 12 bullets and various drug paraphernalia.

After appealing his conviction, Sahouli was released pending his appeal with conditions that included depositing $3,500 with the court, living in Burnaby and reporting in person to the RCMP there weekly.

In his decision, Mitchell wrote that Sahouli didn’t move to British Columbia and didn’t contact the Burnaby RCMP.

Sahouli’s excuse was that his relationship with his common-law partner was over and his job prospects in Burnaby weren’t as good as he had expected.

Mitchell wrote that the RCMP in British Columbia started to look for Sahouli when he didn’t show up and spent about 130 hours trying to find him before learning he was still in P.E.I.

Sahouli had a history of showing up late for court, including the day he was sentenced when the police picked him up at the airport and brought him to the courthouse in handcuffs about three hours after he was supposed to be there.

In ordering Sahouli kept in custody, Mitchell wrote he believed it would shake the public’s confidence in the administration of justice to allow a person convicted of such serious drug offences to “effectively thumb his nose” repeatedly at court orders.

Sahouli’s appeal is scheduled for Sept. 20.