Wheel man in drive-by shooting handed four years

The wheel man in a drive-by shooting, which saw a parked car occupied by two men peppered with four bullets, has been handed a four-year prison term.

With credit for pre-sentencing custody, Ahed Alwan will have to serve another three years and 198 days, Justice David Labrenz ordered Monday, in accepting a joint Crown and defence submission for the mandatory minimum sentence.

Alwan, 23, pleaded guilty in May to discharging a firearm with intent to wound in connection with a Dec. 13, 2015, incident in a northeast Calgary neighbourhood in which his accomplice fired four shots at a parked BMW.

Both prosecutor Brian Holtby and defence counsel Cory Wilson agreed the mandatory minimum was adequate punishment, considering what others received in the police investigation which ultimately saw Alwan and five others charged.

Holtby said the sentences handed to individuals in Operation Hybrid received sentences from two to 7½ years, although the lowest punishment only involved drug charges.

“Mr. Alwan certainly falls into the category of being the least blameworthy of the others,” he said.

Wilson said his client, a native of Iraq who immigrated to Canada in 2010 and is now a Canadian citizen, was only 19 at the time.

“He’s incredibly remorseful for getting himself caught up in this lifestyle,” Wilson told Labrenz.

The Court of Queen’s Bench judge noted how dangerous Alwan’s conduct was in the incident which saw shots taken at Jonathan D’cruz and Adedamola Seun Adeoshun as they sat in a parked car outside a Coral Springs Close N.E. home.

“(The shots) could well have injured innocent parties ... including children,” Labrenz said.

None of the bullets hit either target.