Crown seeks 7-year sentence in gang-related kidnapping

The Crown is seeking a seven-year jail term for a fourth man who has pleaded guilty to a gang-related kidnapping in Vancouver.

John Ross Powers, 28, was charged along with five other men in the November 2011 abduction of Eric Low.

The trial for five of the six accused began in January 2014 but ran into difficulties, primarily due to disclosure issues raised by the defence.

After a mistrial application by the defence was dismissed in October, three of Powers’ co-accused pleaded guilty and were sentenced.

In April, Powers entered guilty pleas to conspiracy to kidnap Low, using a restricted firearm to confine Low and possession of a restricted, prohibited firearm.

Crown counsel Mark Sheardown argued Powers was a “co-perpetrator” in the sophisticated scheme that involved the kidnappers using encrypted communication devices and the placement of tracking devices on the victim’s vehicles.

Powers helped follow Low in the days prior to the kidnapping and monitored his movements, and he participated in the abduction.

Sheardown told court Wednesday that on the day of the kidnapping, Powers and coaccused Cody Sleigh parked a van beside Low’s vehicle in the parking lot of a Blockbuster video store at 50th and Fraser.

When Low approached his vehicle, Powers and Sleigh jumped out of their vehicle and began assaulting Low. One of them struck Low on the head with a pistol about five times. Low resisted and began screaming, but was forced into the van. Powers restrained Low in a headlock and Sleigh drove away at high speed, Low’s legs dangling out of a sliding door.

Police, who were conducting surveillance on the accused at the time, did an emergency takedown and arrested Powers and Sleigh.

Low, who had a zapstrap wrapped loosely around his ankle, was covered in blood. His suffered a black eye, head cuts and two large bumps on the back of his head.

After Powers was arrested and while he was in custody, he told an undercover police officer that the kidnappers believed Low was a high-level drug dealer and had millions of dollars.

Nancy Adams, Powers’ lawyer, argued that there were features of her client’s circumstances and his involvement in the crime itself that called for a sentence of time served, to be followed by two years of probation. She said that when he was 16, Powers had suffered a head injury in a motor vehicle accident and became addicted to painkillers.

He suffered from chronic pain and a cognitive deficit and was easily manipulated by the others involved in the Low abduction, she said. “Mr. Powers only ever took orders, he never gave orders. He was the lowest member of the group.”

Adams is expected to conclude her submissions at a later date.

“Mr. Powers only ever took orders, he never gave orders. He was the lowest member of the group.”

— Nancy Adams, lawyer for John Powers