Dry cleaning excuse doesn't wash
News
Posted By BOB VAILLANCOURT THE SUDBURY STAR
Posted 1 month ago
After getting a 10-month jail sentence last week on drug charges, a Toronto man received another six months in jail Monday in Sudbury for lying at his bail hearing on the same drug charges.
Ontario Court Justice Guy Mahaffy found Demetrios Perreira, 27, guilty of perjury for testimony he gave at his bail hearing in November, where he was seeking to be released on drug charges.
Perreira was charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking when police found about $19,000 worth of drugs and $17,000 in cash in a hotel room registered to him on Nov. 1.
At the bail hearing, Perreira argued the $17,000 was not from the sale of drugs, but from a cleaning business that he owned and operated in the Toronto area.
He argued he needed to be out on bail because the business would flounder if he was not there to operate it. When investigators failed to find any evidence the business existed, the perjury charge was laid.
In a trial on that charge held early last month, Perreira testified he operated Better TH'N the Rest Cleaners out of a Queen Street address in Toronto and the money was from that business.
He testified the business completed 18 to 20 contracts in the previous five months.
But assistant Crown attorney Karen Lische said Perreira's bank records showed a number of cash transactions where a high volume of $20, $50 and some $100 bills were involved.
As for the address Perreira gave for the business, Greater Sudbury Police Const. Steve Train said it was Perreira's apartment on Queen Street.
Perreira's lawyer, John Saftic, argued his client's company was relatively small and, like many small cleaning contractors, often found itself dealing in cash.
It was also not unusual, given the high prices of commercial property leases in Toronto, for people to run businesses out of their homes or other residential locations, said Saftic.
While the lawyer's arguments may have some merit, Mahaffy said they were not part of the sworn evidence at the trial. And it was on the sworn evidence at the trial on which he must base his decision.
That evidence included the fact that Perreira never registered the business with Revenue Canada or filed an income tax return in connection with the company. Nor was there any indication anyone associated with the company has taken any Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System training, which would be required for handling chemicals involved in a cleaning business.
As for evidence about the bank account, the high number of deposits and then withdraws, particularly the larger sums, can only lead one to conclude that "it was consistent with money laundering," Mahaffy said.
As well, said the judge, there was no evidence the business ever advertised. "One would expect some record somewhere that this business existed, but there was none."
The "only reasonable conclusion that one can come to is this person did not operate a cleaning business at the time of the bail hearing," Mahaffy ruled.
The hotel room arrest of Perreira in November was similar to his arrest in May of 2003 in another Sudbury hotel room. On that occasion, Perreira had travelled from Toronto to Sudbury after an undercover officer called him to set up a drug deal.
Perreira was arrested at the downtown hotel, where he was found in possession of a large variety of drugs and more than $500 in cash.
He ultimately received a two-year prison sentence for that deal.
bvaillancourt@thesudburystar.com
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