Ex-UN gang associate deserves 5 to 7 years in prison, lawyer says
Aram Ali a changed man since he shot at SUV in 2009
A lawyer for a former UN gang associate convicted in connection with a shooting incident nearly seven years ago argued Friday for a jail sentence of between five and seven years for his client.
John Stowe said that Aram Ali, 30, had turned his life around since being released on bail in 2011 and is a different man than the one who opened fire on a vehicle outside a Surrey strip club in 2009.
“The man who committed these offences back in February 2009 we say is not the man before you today. In February 2009, Mr. Ali was 23 years old. He’s 30 years old today. There has been a lot of water that has passed under the bridge since February 2009.”
Ali was found not guilty of two counts of attempted murder, but guilty of aggravated assault and discharging a firearm with intent to wound.
At the instructions of UN gang member Barzan Tilli-Choli, he fired eight shots at a Range Rover outside the T-Barz strip club Feb. 16, 2009. The alleged target was former Red Scorpions associate Tyler Willock, a passenger in the vehicle. Willock was not hit, but the driver of the vehicle, who cannot be identified under a publication ban, was shot in the shoulder and had a bullet graze his ear.
Seven of the eight bullets hit the vehicle, which was occupied by four people.
Stowe told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes that by arguing the sentencing range for Ali was between seven and 15 years, the Crown had “lost a little bit of objectivity.” He acknowledged that denunciation and deterrence were factors in sentencing, but said rehabilitation must be included considered.
He said that since being released on bail in August 2011, Ali had been employed in a number of jobs and was now providing support to his mother and several siblings in Calgary.
Stowe disputed the Crown’s assertion it was a targeted shooting.
“There’s no finding of fact this was a gangrelated incident and that Mr. Ali was participating in a gang endeavour.”
Ali spent 10 years in a Syrian refugee camp as a child, came to Canada as a refugee with his family and has permanent residency status. But he faces possible deportation after serving whatever sentence he gets, court heard.
Speaking through a Kurdish interpreter, Ali told the judge he wanted to apologize for his behaviour, to all of the occupants of the vehicle and to his family.
“I’m thankful to God that this incident did not become much bigger, that nobody got badly hurt. I had time when I was in prison to think about what I did. It was a very big mistake.”
If he had remained in jail instead of being released on bail, he couldn’t have proven he had changed, he said.
“In the past four years, I did my best to change my life and turn my life around so I can become a very good example for my siblings, so they don’t follow my footsteps.”
The judge said she will announce Ali’s sentence Dec. 18.
Tilli-Choli is serving a 14-year jail term for conspiring to murder the Bacon brothers.