METRO VANCOUVER -- First, Surrey resident Glenn Harley Sheck successfully fought to be sentenced to less than the three-year mandatory minimum after his conviction for carrying a loaded handgun into an Earl’s restaurant.

Now he wants to avoid going to jail altogether.

Sheck’s lawyer Neil Cobb argued in Surrey Provincial Court this week that charges against Sheck for stuffing a loaded Glock in his Louis Vuitton man-purse in November 2010 should be stayed because of unreasonable delays in the court proceedings.

Cobb said the 44 months it has taken to get to sentencing is too long for any accused to have to wait.

“It is not a matter of laying blame,” Cobb told Judge James Bahen. “But that’s cold comfort to an accused person who sees an opportunity to finally get on with his or her life, get out from under the sting of the enduring, protracted and seemingly never-ending prosecution of their file and get on with their life with whatever results the court visits upon them in terms of an actual sentence.”

Cobb said government underfunding of the judiciary led to the initial delay of more than a year before Sheck’s trial took place in early 2012.

Sheck then filed a Charter challenge of the mandatory minimum three-year sentence, which Bahen accepted in January 2013 — the first ruling of its kind in B.C.

Cobb argued that after Bahen ruled the mandatory sentence was unconstitutional, the Crown should have ceased further court challenges and proceeded straight to a sentencing hearing.

Cobb also noted the strict bail conditions under which Sheck has been forced to live for three and a half years.

“The unique government actions in the context of this test case moved this over the line and make it one of those clearest of cases where a judicial stay is appropriate and just in all of the circumstances,” Cobb argued.

But prosecutor Winston Sayson said the Crown had a public duty to argue to uphold the mandatory term, even if it meant a longer court case for the accused.

“The Crown has a positive duty to defend statutes enacted by parliament,” Sayson said. “And the Crown should not be chilled into conceding Charter breaches.”

He noted that Sheck was found guilty two years ago and that the subsequent delays to reach sentencing came because of the defence’s Charter challenges.

“The Crown certainly did not cause the delay. The Crown simply responded to the applications made by the accused,” he said.

Sheck’s conviction is a serious one, Sayson added.

“There is no doubt — and the defence will not dispute — that the possession of a loaded handgun in a family restaurant is as serious as can be,” Sayson said. “This file is far too serious, far too significant to be stayed.”

Bahen reserved his ruling on the Charter challenge until June 11. Depending on his decision, another date may be fixed for sentencing.

Meanwhile Sheck’s legal woes are far from over.

There’s a warrant for his arrest in Washington State, where he was indicted in January 2013 on 22 counts of conspiracy and money laundering more than $5 million.

The U.S. charges stem from a six-year investigation targeting B.C. cash brokers thought to be laundering millions in drug trade profits across the border.

The indictment lists 20 different transactions allegedly made by Sheck, starting in November 2008 and continuing until April 30, 2012, ranging from as low as $34,920 to several around $500,000.

kbolan@vancouversun.com

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