Trafficker, who had passport fraud charge stayed, gets bail

A convicted drug trafficker who allegedly got a fake passport before his sentencing last year has been granted bail while he awaits an appeal in his case.

Relatives of Clayton Eheler, 38, agreed to put up sureties that they will forfeit if he doesn't abide by his release conditions, B.C. Appeal Court Justice Joyce Dewitt-van Oosten said in her ruling.

Dewitt-van Oosten ordered Eheler to wear an electronic monitor and observe a curfew after being released into the community to await his appeal hearing, scheduled for late January.

She accepted arguments from Eheler's lawyer Matthew Nathanson that Eheler met the criteria for release, with his family putting up cash and property, and with strong grounds for appeal.

Nathanson also cited Eheler's severe sleep apnea and the fact prison officials had not provided the medical equipment he requires for it.

Federal Crown John Walker opposed Eheler's release, saying it would erode public confidence in the justice system, given the serious conviction, Eheler's long criminal record, and multiple breaches of court orders.

And he noted that Eheler was a flight risk who attempted “to arrange for a false passport while awaiting sentencing.”

Eheler was charged in the passport fraud case, but the charge was later stayed.

Walker also argued that Eheler's grounds for appeal are not strong.

But Dewitt-van Oosten said that she was “satisfied that Mr. Eheler has met the test for release pending his appeal from conviction.”

And she said that while “the circumstances surrounding the false passport are suspicious,” Eheler would be on stricter conditions than before.

“I also accept that Mr. Eheler's proposed release plan is more stringent than the one he was subject to prior to his sentencing. There is no indication that Mr. Eheler has ties to another jurisdiction,” she said. “On the whole, I am satisfied that Mr. Eheler's flight risk can be effectively mitigated through a stringent release order.”

Eheler was handed a nine-year prison sentence last November as a leader of a major drug trafficking organization that was shipping its illicit products to B.C.'S north.

Eheler and his associate Matthew Thiessen were first charged in the case in 2015 after an investigation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C.

As part of their probe, officers executed search warrants at two properties in Chilliwack and seized eight firearms, prohibited magazines, silencers, and more than $200,000 in cash. Also seized was over $2 million worth of drugs, including a large amount of fentanyl. But Eheler and Thiessen were convicted in June 2018 only of possessing less than 10 kilograms of cocaine found in a Chilliwack apartment that police searched in November 2014.

After their conviction, Eheler and Thiessen applied to have their charges stayed due to the length of time the case took to get to trial. But in January 2019, Judge Richard Browning rejected arguments made by their lawyers that their charter rights had been violated.

That ruling is part of Eheler's appeal.

Eheler is an associate of the Hells Angels who was previously connected to the Bacon brothers and Independent Soldiers.