Gun-smuggling suspect on bail
Date: Jul 19, 2006 11:31 AM
PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star
DATE: 2006.07.19
EDITION: ONT
SECTION: GTA
PAGE: B1
BYLINE: Betsy Powell
SOURCE: Toronto Star
ILLUSTRATION: Steve Russell TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO Toronto police
display firearms seized in May during an investigation into an alleged
gun-smuggling operation.
WORD COUNT: 574

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Gun-smuggling suspect on bail
Release upsets police, group; Ring accused of supplying gang Man faces
more than 100 counts

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A man facing more than 100 firearms and drug charges – and who police
allege was a key player in a gun-smuggling pipeline that supplied
firepower to a violent west-end street gang – has been released on bail.

Steven Lucas, 27, was arrested May 18 as part of Project XXX, the
largest anti-gang offensive in the city’s history.

Toronto police credited the investigation with striking a blow to the
notorious Jamestown Crew and dismantling a major gun-smuggling importing
scheme that originated in Texas.

The charges against Lucas include 23 counts of unauthorized possession
of a firearm, 20 counts of trafficking firearms and one count of
unauthorized presence of a firearm in a motor vehicle. He is also
charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and
the gang-related “commission of offence for criminal organization,”
although he is not alleged to be a member of the Jamestown Crew.

A provincial justice of the peace initially turned down the Brantford
man’s request for bail. But at his review last Friday, Superior Court of
Justice Anne Molloy ordered his release from custody with 14 bail
conditions. Bail was set at $50,000, with no deposit required.

Lucas was ordered to reside with his parents at their country home near
Brantford, report to Simcoe OPP, and not to possess weapons or
cellphones or use email, and only be allowed outside his parents’
residence in the company of a surety.

He’s to appear again in court at 2201 Finch Ave. W. next Thursday.

Toronto police Chief Bill Blair yesterday called it a disappointing
setback for law enforcement.

Police now worry his release has set a precedent for the other
co-accused in the case facing serious charges when the force is trying
to keep violent criminals off the street to prevent a repeat of last
year’s unprecedented number of firearms-related homicides.

About 30 of the 78 people charged as part of Project XXX remain behind
bars.

Leighton Bonnick, 27, who is also facing numerous weapons and drug
charges in connection with the case, is due to appear in court for a
bail review tomorrow at 361 University Ave.

Lucas’s lawyer, Joseph Wilkinson, said yesterday that Molloy “made the
right decision,” adding a ban on publication prevents him from
commenting on why his client was entitled to be released. Lucas did not
have a previous criminal record, said a source.

Elizabeth Hawley, executive director of the Crime Prevention Association
of Toronto (CPAT), said she is disturbed when she hears about people
accused of serious offences getting bail. “What’s the minimum that
somebody needs to have in order to stay in when they have that many
charges against them?

“I’m sure the judges have their reasons for doing it, but I think we
need to look at what’s happening in the justice system and do a review.”

She cited examples of people being released on bail and re-offending.

More than three-dozen handguns, shotguns, machine pistols seized as part
of Project XXX were on display in May when police announced details of
the gang sweep.

Some of those guns – and others – were traced back to Earle Cooke, a
Canadian resident serving time in a U.S. penitentiary for firearms
trafficking.

Toronto police believe Cooke was buying the guns in Texas and smuggling
them into Canada. Lucas allegedly was acting as a middle man and selling
them to gang members in Jamestown.

Police believe the pipeline was responsible for bringing 150 firearms to
the streets of Toronto. Eighteen guns seized from gang members traced
directly back to Lucas and Cooke, police allege.

U.S. investigators found that although Cooke lived on the Six Nations
reserve in Ohsweken, near Brantford, he claimed to have resided in
Texas. Cooke bought firearms from gun shops in Houston and listed
Houston addresses as his home. It’s a crime in the U.S. to falsify
firearms paperwork.