Is Bolivian Hardwood done for ?
Money launderer's seven years a shock
Kevan Garner talks to David Baines about his crime, the sentence and the risk it poses to others cooperating with police
David Baines
Vancouver Sun
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
ACQUITTED: Vancouver stock promoter Jack Purdy as pictured by an undercover camera in Florida in February 2002. Though acquitted in the Bermuda Short affair, he faces a related second trial in July.
PENDING: Martin Chambers, former Vancouver lawyer, has been in a Florida jail for seven months after his arrest in FBI sting.
Mark Van Manen, Vancouver Sun / 87 MONTHS IN PRISON: Kevan Garner, pictured in Vancouver on Monday, pleaded guilty in Florida and was sentenced to seven and a half years for laundering drug money. He must start serving his sentence May 27.
For years, Tiny's Diner on West Hastings has been the scene of many conspiratorial conversations between penny stock promoters, but on Monday it served as a confessional for erstwhile stock promoter and convicted money launderer Kevan Garner.
Last week, a Florida judge sentenced Garner to 87 months -- just over seven years -- in a federal penitentiary after he pleaded guilty to two counts of laundering $1 million cash that was said to be the proceeds of cocaine trafficking.
The sentence, which cannot be appealed, shocked Garner, who was led to believe he would receive a lighter sentence for pleading guilty and testifying against fellow Vancouver stock promoter Jack Purdy, caught in the same FBI-RCMP sting operation last August.
However, when it came time for sentencing, U.S. attorney Richard Hong did not recommend any deviation from federal sentencing guidelines. Garner said this could create serious problems in the prosecution of other defendants.
"This is part of a larger sting operation called Bermuda Short. There are other cooperating witnesses out there, but this sentence puts at risk their willingness to cooperate," he said.
Inspector Marianne Ryan, operations officer for the RCMP Integrated Proceeds of Crime Section in Vancouver, said she was also "surprised" by the heavy sentence.
"Mr. Garner agreed to cooperate knowing he could face a severe penalty. It is unfortunate that the judge appears not to have taken into account his testimony and his level of cooperation with law enforcement."
While Garner confessed his crimes and got hammered by the court, Purdy -- in an ironic twist -- contested the money-laundering charges against him and was acquitted by a Miami jury earlier this month.
But Purdy is not yet out of the woods. He is scheduled to answer nine additional money-laundering charges on July 7. A separate trial will also be held for former Vancouver lawyer Martin Chambers, who was also ensnared in the sting.
"They [U.S. authorities] asked me to testify against Chambers, but based on their failure to live up to their bond, I certainly have significant reluctance," said Garner.
Garner worked at Purdy's West Hastings office helping him promote stocks listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and the OTC Bulletin Board.
He charged that, not only did the U.S. prosecutor betray him, he blew the case against Purdy by omitting key pieces of evidence and not calling important witnesses, choosing instead to rely almost exclusively on his testimony.
Garner said money-laundering and drug cases are like prize fights: defendants arm themselves with high-priced lawyers who can "bob and weave with dizzying speed."
"To win you have to be extremely well organized, but this prosecutor is incredibly disorganized. His office looks like a bomb went off," he said.
Garner must report to U.S. authorities in Miami on May 27 when he will begin serving his sentence. Under U.S. rules, he must serve up to 85 per cent of the actual sentence. After subtracting the 31/2 months he spent in pre-trial detention, he will still have to spend nearly six years behind bars.
At some point, he will be eligible for transfer to a Canadian prison, where there are more liberal parole provisions, but the prospects are vague.
In a remarkably candid interview at Tiny's Diner -- where he once ingested high cholesterol breakfasts while hatching stock deals with fellow promoters -- Garner described the events leading up to his arrest, the shame it brought on him and his family, and his subsequent decision to come clean.
The case started early last year when -- at the urging of two undercover officers posing as members of a Colombian drug cartel -- he accepted a $500,000 bag of cash, which he used to buy a shell company that he planned to flip to another set of promoters.
He said the undercover agents made it clear the money was the proceeds of cocaine trafficking, but he said it all seemed quite remote from the sordid realities of drug dealing.
"I wasn't dealing with people who wore gold chains around their necks and had a .45 in their pocket. They stressed they weren't dealing with drugs, just the proceeds. They likened it to the Bronfmans [who smuggled liquor into the United States despite prohibition laws] and said that 20 years from now, this would be no different."
By August, the agents were ready to spring the trap. They persuaded Garner to fly to Miami and Purdy to New York. They were to join Garner in Miami and then fly to New York, where they would rendezvous with Purdy.
Garner said that, just before they left Vancouver, Purdy said, "I'm scared to death this is a sting operation." Garner replied, "Jack, it's a little late to think about that now."
Arriving in Miami, Garner checked into the Sheraton Yankee Clipper in Miami, then met with one of the operatives, an RCMP agent who used the alias Bill McDonald, in the hotel parking lot.
Before Garner could step into the SUV, about 10 FBI agents swarmed over them and handcuffed them both. "It was a real out-of-body experience," he recalls.
Garner was taken to the FBI headquarters in Miami, where he became aware that everything he had done for the last four months had been caught on audio or video tape.
He said the agents told him, "Kevan you're a small fish and we care nothing about you. Our targets are Purdy and Chambers."
"They were conditioning me for cooperation. I told them I would tell them anything they wanted to know, because they probably knew anyway."
This was not just a decision of convenience or opportunity. Garner said he was personally overwhelmed by "incredibly deep humiliation and shame. I decided that if I ever wanted to clean up my ethical act, it was time to start now."
He was taken to the federal detention centre in Miami, which he described as "incredibly secure and clean" and with such a steady turnover of prisoners that there was no opportunity for groups to form.
He was placed in a seven-by-14-foot cell on the 11th floor. His cell mate was a Cuban who served as ad hoc minister for the prison chapel and was "on his fourth wife and second hair transplant." He had been charged for social security fraud.
Other detainees included Alberto Falcone, a real Colombian drug lord, and former heavyweight boxer Trevor Berbick, who had been charged with cocaine possession.
Garner stayed in his cell for 31/2 months and was not once allowed outside. "We all have personal possessions which seem important to us, but when your world is reduced to a tin box, you really think about what's important in life."
He said he re-examined his life on Howe Street, where he had observed "the rise and fall of many Roman candles."
"It's a hotbed of temptation. So many people in Howe Street are not interested in building companies, but rather extracting as much money as they can for themselves. That's unethical, theft, fraud -- all of the above.
"That's why guys end up on drugs, the bars are full and families are broken. There are some good guys down here, too, but the sea of temptation is sometimes difficult to deny."
At 47 years of age, he said, it was "a hell of a time to start a life of crime." Without an income for the past eight months, he has had to sell the family home and his wife, Michelle, has started a catering business to support their two daughters, age 10 and 13.
"Michelle was never angry at me, but she was fearful for me and our children," he said.
The fears were many: fear of recrimination from Chambers, who RCMP alleged in court proceedings has Hells Angels' connections and involvement in as many as four underworld killings in the Vancouver area; fear for the family's future; fear of what friends and neighbours would think.
Garner says that whether or not he testifies against Chambers, he has no fear of physical injury from the volatile former lawyer.
"I've seen Martin turn on a dime, in his whole psyche and attitude, but am I physically afraid? No, I don't think so. But those may be famous last words. The RCMP have alleged some extremely nasty stuff."
He says the circumstances of his departure have given him an opportunity to settle the family as best as possible. Meanwhile, the parents of children at York House, where his daughters attend school, and neighbours have rallied around them.
Garner has always been community minded. Among many other charitable pursuits, he helped organize several events for the Arts Umbrella which raised more than $200,000.
In less than two months, Garner will say goodbye to his wife and daughters.
Business BC: Exclusive Report |
