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Philippine Showbiz Today
November 22 - December 7, 2016
Jan. 22-Feb.7, 2015
B.C. Supreme Court convicts two Filipinos
for drug trafficking
A B.C. Supreme Court has
sentenced two Filipinos for drug
trafficking in Coquitlam and
Burnaby.
Kevin
Gonzales
and
Christopher Fundal had entered
guilty pleas that between August
16, 2012 to November 23, 2012,
they sold cocaine through a “dial-
a-dope” operation.
“The transactions admitted
by the offenders were all with
undercover
RCMP
officers,”
stated the court decision dated
November 15, 2016.
Fundal, 26 years old, was
nearing 22 years of age at the
time of the offences.
“After his parents separated
when he was three, he was raised
by his mother. He continues to
live with his mother and three
siblings in Richmond. At the
time of his pre-sentence report,
submitted in 2015, he had not
seen his father, who is in the
Philippines, for approximately 14
years. He appears to have a close
relationship with his family and
although his mother struggled
on the edge of poverty for several
years, he described himself having
a happy childhood,” the decision
noted.
“In his mid-teens, he began to
hang out with a negative peer group
which led to him participating in
a gang in Richmond. Mr. Fundal
told the probation officer who
authored his pre-sentence report
that his gang gave him a group
of people to hang out with and to
seek protection from during fights.
This gang introduced Mr. Fundal
to drug trafficking. He no longer
associates with gang members,”
the ruling also stated.
The court sentenced Fundal
to two years to be served in the
community, meaning he doesn’t
go to prison.
Fundal’s condition sentence
has several terms, including
having to appear to a conditional
sentence supervisor.
Fundal can also continue to
live with his mother. He will have
a curfew for the first six months
of his sentence, from 11 p.m. to
5 a.m.
Gonzales, for his part, is
currently 27 years of age.
“Since immigrating to Canada
from the Philippines, Mr. Gonzales
has been raised primarily by his
mother and had no contact with
Richard Gomez cleared
by Kerwin Espinosa
A c t o r- t u r n e d - p o l i t i c i a n
Richard Gomez was cleared
by
self-confessed
drug
lord Kerwin Espinosa
in
the
proliferation of illegal drugs in the
country.
Standing as a resource
person in the Senate inquiry,
Espinosa said that Ormoc City
Mayor Gomez knows nothing
about his illegal business.
“Hindi kaya ako barilin niyan
(Gomez)? MAD ‘yan eh,” Espinosa
said referring to the citizens drive
against illegal drugs Mamamayan
Ayaw sa Droga where Gomez
spearheaded the campaign in
90’s.
“Walang
kaalam-alam
‘yan.”
Mayor Gomez and the Leyte
officials were tagged by Criminal
Investigation and Detention Group
Region 8 Chief Insp. Leo Laraga as
local politicians involved in illegal
drugs in the province of Leyte.
Albuera municipal police
chief Jovie Espenido also tagged
Gomez in the drug trade, which
the Ormoc City mayor answered
by filing a case against the cop.
“As an actor in the world of
show business for over three
decades, I have had to deal
with all sorts of controversy and
sometimes bad publicity, but this
is the first time that my name
has been dragged into an issue
involving drugs,” Gomez said
earlier.
“Someone is trying to muddle
the issue. I have asked my lawyers
to file a case against Major Jovie
Espenido, a cop beholden to
my political opponents, who
has attempted many times to
besmirch my name,” he added.●
- ABS-CBN
his father. He has maintained a
close relationship with his mother
who was interviewed by the
probation officer. Mr. Gonzales
completed Grade 9 while living
in Vancouver and hopes to return
to school to obtain his General
Equivalency Diploma which he
requires to enter school to become
an automotive mechanic, which
he advises is his goal,” the court
decision noted.
“In recent years, he has
worked in the construction
industry and in warehouses.
His current employer is in the
residential construction industry
and has positive comments
regarding Mr. Gonzales, his work
and his attitudes.”
The court found that
Gonzales’ level of involvement in
the dial-a-dope operation was at
least at that of a mid-level drug
trafficker as evidenced by his
direct involvement in the larger
transactions.
“Your level of involvement
must, in the circumstances, result
in an emphasis on denunciation
and deterrence rather than on
rehabilitation. Higher level drug
transactions commonly result in a
period of incarceration served in
an institution and that is the case
here,” the court ruling stated to
Gonzales.
The court sentenced Gonzales
to two years of incarceration to be
served in a federal institution.●