R. v. Gambilla (D.A.) et al., (2015) 604 A.R. 353 (QB)

JudgeYamauchi, J.
CourtCourt of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Canada)
Case DateAugust 19, 2015
Citations(2015), 604 A.R. 353 (QB);2015 ABQB 571

R. v. Gambilla (D.A.) (2015), 604 A.R. 353 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2015] A.R. TBEd. SE.064

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada v. Dennis Anambono Gambilla and Myriam Mamouni (100386366Q1; 2015 ABQB 571)

Indexed As: R. v. Gambilla (D.A.) et al.

Alberta Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial District of Calgary

Yamauchi, J.

September 11, 2015.

Summary:

The accused (Gambilla and Mamouni) were convicted of importing cocaine into Canada and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. The accused mailed four boxes from Trinidad and Tobago to Calgary. When the boxes arrived in Canada at a mail processing centre in Ontario, they were found to have 1.882 kilograms of cocaine hidden in them. The Crown sought at least eight years' imprisonment. The accused each sought less than five years' imprisonment.

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench sentenced Mamouni to six years' imprisonment for importation and 4.5 years' imprisonment (concurrent) for possession for the purpose of trafficking. Gambilla was sentenced to 6.5 years' imprisonment for importation and 4.5 years' imprisonment (concurrent) for possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Criminal Law - Topic 5830.8

Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Drug and narcotic offences - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5891 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5846.5

Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Sentence precedents (incl. starting point principle and sentencing ranges) - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5891 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5850

Sentence - Trafficking in a narcotic or a controlled drug or substance (incl. possession for the purpose of trafficking) - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5891 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5891

Sentence - Importing or exporting a narcotic or controlled substance (incl. possession for the purpose of) - The accused (Gambilla and Mamouni) were convicted of importing 1.882 kilograms of cocaine into Canada from Trinidad and Tobago by mail - The value was between $63,000 and $150,000, putting the amount of cocaine in the wholesale level - Aggravating factors included the high degree of planning and deliberation, the use of others to insulate themselves from detection, that they were the directing minds behind the importation scheme and that they were not drug addicts (pure profit motive) - Mamouni had an unrelated prior criminal record - Gambilla had no prior convictions, but several drug-related convictions since these offences - Mitigating factors for Mamouni were rehabilitation and reintegration - She remained steadily employed, with a supportive family, and was involved in community and volunteer activities - Gambilla did not exhibit the same level of mitigating factors - Offences involving cocaine required denunciation and deterrence - Both accused had a high level of moral blameworthiness - The Crown sought a sentence of at least eight years' imprisonment - The starting point sentence for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking was 4.5 years' imprisonment for wholesale amounts of cocaine - Although there was no stated starting point for importation of wholesale amounts of cocaine, it was a more serious offence with a notionally higher starting point sentence - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench sentenced Mamouni to six years' imprisonment for importation and 4.5 years' imprisonment (concurrent) for possession for the purpose of trafficking - Gambilla was sentenced to 6.5 years' imprisonment for importation and 4.5 years' imprisonment (concurrent) for possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. J.L.M.A. (2010), 499 A.R. 1; 514 W.A.C. 1; 40 Alta. L.R.(5th) 199; 2010 ABCA 363, refd to. [para. 13].

R. v. Arcand - see R. v. J.L.M.A.

R. v. Maskell (1981), 29 A.R. 107; 58 C.C.C.(2d) 408; 1981 ABCA 50, refd to. [para. 17].

R. v. Tran (W.D.B.) (2010), 490 A.R. 229; 497 W.A.C. 229; 263 C.C.C.(3d) 512; 2010 ABCA 317, refd to. [para. 17].

R. v. Rahime (S.) et al. (2001), 286 A.R. 377; 253 W.A.C. 377; 95 Alta. L.R.(3d) 237; 2001 ABCA 203, refd to. [para. 17].

R. v. Rainville (S.P.) (2010), 490 A.R. 150; 497 W.A.C. 150; 2010 ABCA 288, refd to. [para. 17].

R. v. Brady (J.R.) (1998), 209 A.R. 321; 160 W.A.C. 321; 59 Alta. L.R.(3d) 133; 1998 ABCA 7, refd to. [para. 17].

R. v. Schmidt (J.M.) (2011), 510 A.R. 230; 527 W.A.C. 230; 2011 ABCA 211, refd to. [para. 17].

R. v. Overacker (W.) (2005), 367 A.R. 250; 346 W.A.C. 250; 48 Alta. L.R.(4th) 8; 2005 ABCA 150, refd to. [para. 18].

Pushpanathan v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1998] 1 S.C.R. 982; 226 N.R. 201; 160 D.L.R.(4th) 193, refd to. [para. 22].

R. v. Smith (G.H.) (1992), 115 N.S.R.(2d) 24; 314 A.P.R. 24 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 22].

R. v. Trung (P.M.) (2007), 404 A.R. 319; 394 W.A.C. 319; 2007 ABCA 103, refd to. [para. 22].

R. v. An (T.S.) (2001), 302 A.R. 149; 2001 ABQB 867, refd to. [para. 22].

R. v. Smith (E.D.), [1987] 1 S.C.R. 1045; 75 N.R. 321; 15 B.C.L.R.(2d) 273, refd to. [para. 22].

R. v. Ostertag (T.K.) (2000), 266 A.R. 57; 228 W.A.C. 57; 35 C.R.(5th) 350; 83 Alta. L.R.(3d) 20; 2000 ABCA 232, refd to. [para. 25].

R. v. James (S.), 2010 CarswellOnt 11294 (Sup. Ct.), affd. [2012] O.A.C. Uned. 621; 2012 ONCA 760, refd to. [para. 30].

R. v. Innes (B.D.), [2012] A.R. Uned. 485; 2012 ABCA 283, refd to. [para. 32].

R. v. Wong (W.J.) (2004), 354 A.R. 330; 329 W.A.C. 330; 2004 ABCA 260, refd to. [para. 41].

R. v. Lau (W.T.) (2004), 357 A.R. 312; 334 W.A.C. 312; 2004 ABCA 408, refd to. [para. 41].

R. v. Ma (H.) (2003), 330 A.R. 142; 299 W.A.C. 142; 23 Alta. L.R.(4th) 14; 2003 ABCA 220, refd to. [para. 43].

R. v. Cirone; R. v. Mothersill (1988), 87 A.R. 222; 43 C.C.C.(3d) 228 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 51].

R. v. Mothersill - see R. v. Cirone; R. v. Mothersill

R. v. Nassar (1988), 90 A.R. 375 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 52].

R. v. Yousif (I.), [2010] A.R. Uned. 35; 2010 ABPC 26, refd to. [para. 54].

R. v. Zeisig, 2014 ONSC 3529, refd to. [para. 58].

R. v. Rodriguez, 2014 ONSC 2928, refd to. [para. 59].

R. v. Malcolm (M.), [2013] O.T.C. Uned. 1187; 2013 ONSC 1187, refd to. [para. 60].

R. v. Heywood (A.), [2011] O.T.C. Uned. 4010; 2011 ONSC 4010, refd to. [para. 61].

R. v. Chukwu (L.), [2011] O.T.C. Uned. 2216; 2011 ONSC 2216, refd to. [para. 62].

R. v. Hébert, 2010 ACCQ 5995, refd to. [para. 63].

R. v. Rashidi-Alavije (M.) (2007), 229 O.A.C. 365; 2007 ONCA 712, refd to. [para. 64].

R. v. Gordon-Cummins, [2013] O.T.C. Uned. 5901; 2013 ONSC 5901, refd to. [para. 65].

R. v. Januska (J.V.) et al., [2015] A.R. TBEd. AU.112; 2015 ABQB 519, refd to. [para. 66].

R. v. Summers (S.) (2014), 456 N.R. 1; 316 O.A.C. 349; 308 C.C.C.(3d) 471; 371 D.L.R.(4th) 581; 2014 SCC 26, refd to. [para. 96].

R. v. Calliou (J.A.) (2014), 575 A.R. 86; 612 W.A.C. 86; 2014 ABCA 158, refd to. [para. 96].

R. v. Wilson (R.) (2008), 240 O.A.C. 59; 236 C.C.C.(3d) 285; 2008 ONCA 510, refd to. [para. 100].

Counsel:

Alisa Webber (Public Prosecution Service of Canada), for the Crown;

Pawel J. Milczarek (Sitar & Milczarek), for the accused, Dennis Anambono Gambilla;

David G. Chow (Kay Patel Mahoney Chow), for the accused, Myriam Mamouni.

This matter was heard on August 19, 2015, before Yamauchi, J., of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial District of Calgary, who delivered the following judgment on September 11, 2015.

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2 practice notes
  • R v Loiacono,
    • Canada
    • Provincial Court of Alberta (Canada)
    • March 30, 2022
    ...[“EF”]; R v Brodt, 2016 ABCA 373 [“Brodt”]; R v Cirone, 1988 ABCA 228 [“Cirone”]; R v Gambilla, 2015 ABQB 571 [“Gambilla”]; R v Giroux, 2018 ABCA 56 [“Giroux”]; R v Januska, 2015 ABQB 519 [“Januska”]; R v Ka......
  • R v Gaudrault,
    • Canada
    • Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Canada)
    • June 10, 2021
    ...Defence counsel submitted that the following Alberta cases are relevant in this sentencing matter: R v Gambilla, 2015 ABQB 571, where 6 and 6.5 years sentences were ordered for  the two offenders for importing almost 2 kg of cocaine (and 4.5 years concurrent was ordered for possession ......
2 cases
  • R v Loiacono,
    • Canada
    • Provincial Court of Alberta (Canada)
    • March 30, 2022
    ...[“EF”]; R v Brodt, 2016 ABCA 373 [“Brodt”]; R v Cirone, 1988 ABCA 228 [“Cirone”]; R v Gambilla, 2015 ABQB 571 [“Gambilla”]; R v Giroux, 2018 ABCA 56 [“Giroux”]; R v Januska, 2015 ABQB 519 [“Januska”]; R v Ka......
  • R v Gaudrault,
    • Canada
    • Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Canada)
    • June 10, 2021
    ...Defence counsel submitted that the following Alberta cases are relevant in this sentencing matter: R v Gambilla, 2015 ABQB 571, where 6 and 6.5 years sentences were ordered for  the two offenders for importing almost 2 kg of cocaine (and 4.5 years concurrent was ordered for possession ......

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