Two brothers convicted of drug trafficking earlier this year will have to remain behind bars while a judge considers their appeals.
Dusan and Marko Stevovic were each sentenced to 18 months in prison for their role in a drug-dealing operation at an apartment in southwest Coquitlam. Lawyers for the pair, who have already served six months of their sentences, said they should be released while their appeal is being considered.
Madam Justice Anne Rowles, however, disagreed saying the appellants did not meet the standards for release. While she agreed that their appeal is not frivolous, she said it is unlikely to result in a new trial and that release at this point would be inappropriate.
"The appellants have not established their detention is not necessary in the public interest," she wrote in her reasons for judgement. "In the result, the application for release pending appeal is dismissed."
The Stevovics were charged following a lengthy police investigation in the winter of 2008, which included surveillance of an apartment at 511 Rochester Ave. in Coquitlam. In a search of the apartment, police found tens of thousands of dollars worth of drugs, $7,000 in cash, a sword, bullets, a banana clip for an assault rifle, a 6 mm pellet gun and drug-dealing paraphernalia such as scales and baggies.
During the trial, investigators said the pair had been seen frequenting the apartment and, on several occasions, met briefly with people at the front of the building. According to police, the meetings appeared to involve some "exchanges or hand-offs of some kind."
The Stevovics disagreed with some of the assertions made by investigators. During their trial, they said that while they were aware of some of the activities taking place at the apartment, they were not participants in any trafficking of narcotics.
Another accused, Jason Kirupakaran, said he and another man, Jared Glab, were the sole operators of the drug ring and the brothers did not participate.
The testimony was rejected by Mr. Justice Thomas Woods, who said Kirupakaran's story was inconsistent with independent evidence, including surveillance conducted by police. He added that the witnesses' claims were merely an attempt to help exonerate the brothers.
Police also found personal belongings belonging to the brothers in the apartment, including a drivers' licence, two traffic tickets and receipts addressed to the Stevovics.
"Everything about the subject apartment that is revealed in the material facts cried out that if was a base or hub or 'stash house' for drug trafficking," Thomas wrote in his reasons for judgement. "As a periodic presence there, it is inconceivable that Dusan and Marko would not have seen what was there to be seen."
