Immigrant rioter has mouths to feed
STANLEY CUP FINAL: Defence lawyer urges conditional sentence for 39-year-old from Colombia
A Colombian immigrant who looted three Granville Street shops during the Stanley Cup riot should be spared a fulltime jail sentence because he needs to work to support family in three countries, his lawyer told court Thursday.
And the criminal charge of rioting to which Walintong “Wally” Grueso Ledesma pleaded guilty in June for his role in the June 15, 2011, riot may ruin his hopes of becoming a Canadian citizen, said his lawyer, Lars Kushner.
Grueso Ledesma, who at 39 is one of the oldest rioters to be charged, apologized to Judge Karen Walker through a Spanish interpreter at the end of his sentencing hearing in B.C. Provincial Court in Vancouver.
Grueso Ledesma said he’s not a violent man. He said he’s ashamed of what he did and he acted like a kid that night because he was drunk. He asked forgiveness from the people of Vancouver and Canada, and court heard he has quit drinking and no longer associates with the friends he was out with that night.
His common-law wife, whom he met after the riot and with whom he now lives, helping raise her two young kids, brushed away tears as he spoke.
Grueso Ledesma pleaded guilty to rioting in June. He was also charged with two counts of break-and-enter.
The court heard he entered Sterling Shoes, Mego luggage shop and Swimwear and passed out merchandise to other rioters. He told court he didn’t keep anything for himself and denied he was a thief.
He said he worked hard for his money, putting in eight to 10 hours a day and sometimes working weekends.
Crown prosecutor Susanne Smith Kerr has recommended four to six months in jail to deter the “large group of people prepared to be part of a riot.”
Kushner said a conditional sentence to be served outside jail or an intermittent sentence to be served on weekends would effectively deter others and denounce the crime.
Grueso Ledesma, who has been a permanent resident in Canada since 2009 and works as a labourer, is the sole breadwinner for his new family in Vancouver.
He also supports a seven-year-old daughter in Texas, sends money home to his mom in Colombia and helps siblings there with medical expenses, said Kushner.
Walker will deliver her sentence later this month.