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Possible bail breach could cost $45,000 |
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Written by Gerald Gauthier LETHBRIDGE HERALD
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Tuesday, July 07 2009, 8:49 PM |
A local man accused in the city’s largest-ever cocaine bust is back in custody on new charges of breaching his bail conditions and resisting arrest.
Lethbridge regional police allege accused drug dealer Jorge Alfredo Ventura, 35, fled from an officer who was attempting to arrest him Monday afternoon on the suspicion he had breached his court-imposed release conditions by possessing a cellphone. It was the second alleged breach of his court-ordered cellphone prohibition in the past three weeks and the third since he was first charged in December 2006 with numerous drug and weapons offences relating to the record seizure of two kilograms of cocaine along with an array of other illicit drugs, then estimated to have a street value of $200,000.
During a brief court appearance Tuesday, Ventura learned that as a result of the most recent charges, federal Crown prosecutor Jeremy DeBow is seeking to have Ventura’s bail revoked. The matter was adjourned until Thursday.
If the application is successful, Ventura could be forced to await trial in custody and forfeit a total of $45,000 which has been posted for his release on three occasions in increasing increments since January 2007.
According to police, on Monday at 5:30 p.m. a downtown beat officer familiar with Ventura’s release conditions encountered the accused man while on foot patrol in the 300 block of 5 Street South. Noticing what appeared to be the outline of a cellphone in the accused man’s pocket, the officer asked about it.
Police said the accused man then tried to flee into a nearby business but was caught and arrested following a brief struggle. It’s further alleged a cellphone was seized from the pocket of the accused.
According to police, both the accused and the unnamed officer suffered minor bruises and scrapes in the scuffle.
Ventura was also arrested June 17 and subsequently charged with violating his bail conditions by possessing a cellphone. He was released after posting $30,000 bail. In September 2007, he was released on $10,000 bail after being arrested and charged with breaching conditions imposed when he was granted his initial release in January 2007 on $5,000 bail.
Those conditions also include abiding by a daily curfew and reporting weekly to local police as well as prohibitions from possessing any weapons, pagers or other types of electronic messaging devices.
Ventura is to stand trial by judge and jury next February in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench on three counts of possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, several weapons offences as well as one count each of possession of the proceeds of crime and possession of a controlled substance.
He was charged with those offences after a police raid which, in addition to the two kg of cocaine, also netted more than 280 ecstasy tablets, dozens of vials of steroids, a small amount of marijuana, a loaded shotgun, and $46,000 cash. He has yet to enter a plea on the charges.
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