9
NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — A convicted criminal who escaped from a high-security New Westminster jail with the help of a guard is negotiating his return and surrender with RCMP, the Crown prosecutor handling his case said Friday.
Omid Tahvili was awaiting sentencing on charges of kidnapping and assault when he walked out of North Fraser Pre-trial Centre disguised as a janitor on Nov. 14, 2007. He has been sentenced in absentia to six years in prison.
On Friday, Edwin Ticne, the North Fraser prison guard who pleaded guilty in April to helping Mr. Tahvili escape, was sentenced to three years and three months in prison on charges of obstructing justice and accepting a bribe. The escape is unique in British Columbia and may be the only case of its kind in Canada, Mr. Justice Peter Leask said in court Friday.
Mr. Ticne, with close-cropped black hair and dressed in a suit, rose briefly to address the court before Judge Leask delivered his sentence. Speaking quietly and clearing his throat often, Mr. Ticne apologized “with deepest sincerity” for his actions.
“In my failure to perform my public duty, I have brought shame and disgrace to myself and my loved ones,” he said. “I am prepared to pay my debt to the community.”
According to police, Mr. Tahvili was a member of a Lower Mainland gang that dealt in marijuana and cocaine across Canada. He claimed to be associated with the Hells Angels and the UN Gang, and boasted to an officer posing as a fellow inmate that he was the “John Gotti of Vancouver,” Judge Leask said Friday.
Mr. Tahvili was convicted last October of kidnapping, sexual assault, assault causing bodily harm, uttering threats, possessing the proceeds of criminal activities and using an imitation firearm. After spending 27 months in the high-security North Fraser Pre-trial Centre, he walked out of the facility dressed as a janitor – assisted by Mr. Ticne, a B.C. Corrections guard for 10 years.
Mr. Ticne led Mr. Tahvili, dressed as a janitor, through four security doors and out of the building just before midnight on the night of Nov. 14. Mr. Ticne said he was told he would get $50,000 but “didn't receive one cent for the crime he committed,” Judge Leask said.
Judge Leask said Mr. Ticne was in the grips of a “depressive episode” at the time of Mr. Tahvili's escape. His decision to help the inmate was “a bizarre and situationally driven form of self-destructive behaviour,” Judge Leask said, referencing a psychiatric report.
Crown counsel Wendy Dawson said Coquitlam RCMP investigators told her that Mr. Tahvili contacted them earlier this week to negotiate his return.
“He indicated he was in Toronto. … The police have not advised me the details of the negotiations,” she said.
Ms. Dawson said she doesn't know why Mr. Tahvili contacted police. She said his surrender would not have any effect on the sentence handed down in January.
“I'm sure, you know, that's why he's trying to negotiate: He is facing extradition and a six-year sentence, and additional sentence in respect to these new charges,” she said.
Mr. Tahvili will likely face charges of escaping from custody, bribery of a peace officer and obstruction of justice, Ms. Dawson said.
“I don't expect that I will be asking for the maximum [sentence]. But I will be asking for a substantial sentence.”
Mr. Tahvili also faces extradition to the United States on charges of mail fraud and telemarketing fraud. Ms. Dawson said he would probably be extradited after serving his term in Canada.
Coquitlam RCMP Corporal Scott Baker said he can't comment on the ongoing investigation into Mr. Tahvili's escape and he can't confirm that RCMP have been in contact with him.
“We can't really talk about anything that we're doing with this file,” he said.
Mr. Tahvili's lawyer, Ronald Coumont, said he knew nothing of his client's negotiations with police.
“That's the first I've heard of it,” he said. “I have no idea [why Mr. Tahvili is negotiating now].”
RCMP Sergeant Tim Shields said investigators fear disclosing information about the file could “change the outcome.”
“It's ongoing. We're still following up leads and it's a sensitive investigation and there isn't anything at this time that we can say publicly about it. Having said that, we're still asking for help from the public in order to locate him,” he said. “We're not in a position to make public what information we have.”
Mr. Tahvili was the facility's first escaper, but not its last. Earlier this week, Dean Sykes, convicted on several charges including assault and unlawful confinement, escaped from North Fraser by posing as another inmate. He was arrested Friday.
