 Kevin Van Kalkeren | The judge found that Van Kalkeren played a leading role in a conspiracy to import 500 kilos of cocaine when he met undercover police officers posing as members of a South American drug cartel. After receiving credit for pre-sentence custody, Van Kalkeren has 10 years and 4 1/2 months of prison time remaining. He will be eligible to apply for day parole after three years and full parole after around 3 1/2 years. |  |
 | Two of Van Kalkeren's co-accused — Murray Trekofski and Orhan Saydam — previously entered guilty pleas. Trekofski received eight years in prison while Saydam was sentenced to three years. Final submissions by Crown and defence in the trial of the five remaining accused — David Giles, Brian Oldham, James Howard, Michael Read and Shawn Womacks — are scheduled for June. |  |
 | Both Crown and defence accept that an 18-year sentence is appropriate. But Judge Ross will have to decide if she agrees. What’s in dispute between the lawyers is now much pre-trial credit Van Kalkeren should get. The standard is now 1.5 days for every day in custody prior to conviction. But Van Kalkeren’s lawyer Ian Donaldson says 2-1 wouldn’t be out of line for the 47-year-old given he’s spent almost 45 months in isolation at North Fraser Pre-trial Centre. |  |
 | Donaldson mentioned Friday that it was Van Kalkeren’s own bravado to uncover cops that got him denied bail in the first place. He told the officers posing as drug traffickers that he had money hidden abroad and passports so that he could flee if something went wrong with the 500-kilogram cocaine deal. Kevin Van Kalkeren learns his fate May 27. |  |
 Kevin Van Kalkaren | A Hells Angels associate who put up $4 million to smuggle half a tonne of cocaine into Canada should be sentenced to 18 years in jail, a federal prosecutor said Thursday. Chris Greenwood said Kevin Van Kalkeren played a leading role in the conspiracy to import the “massive” shipment of cocaine, along with full-patch Kelowna Hells Angel David Giles and associate James Howard. Van Kalkeren pleaded guilty in January, three-and-a-half years after he was caught in a reverse sting by Mounties posing as South American drug traffickers. |  David Giles |
 | Van Kalkeren’s co-accused in the case — Giles, Howard, Hells Angel Brian Oldham and associates Michael Read and Shawn Womacks — remain on trial before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carol Ross. But the trial is adjourned until Monday so the judge can preside over Van Kalkeren’s sentencing hearing. The Okanagan man boasted that he had been involved in the drug trade for 18 years, producing 300 to 500 pounds of marijuana a month and then trading pot in Los Angeles for cocaine. “The evidence revealed a conspiracy in which Van Kalkeren agreed with others, notably Giles and Howard, to purchase a purported shipment of 500 kilograms of cocaine and future shipments on a regular basis,” Greenwood said. The conspirators could have made between $7 and $15 million on the cocaine if the deal had been real. |
