[420 Girl]

A B.C. judge has ordered a marijuana grower on the Sunshine Coast to turn over his mortgage-free $600,000 home to the government in what appears to be the largest such forfeiture in B.C. history.

"The value of the equity in this property would appear to be higher than that in any other reported cases," Sechelt Provincial Court Judge Carol Baird Ellan wrote in a ruling ordering Roy Sundstrom, 59, to turn over his Roberts Creek acreage to the government.

More than 30 B.C. marijuana growers have had their homes forfeited in recent years under laws that allow the government to seize crime-related property.

However, many of the seized homes were heavily mortgaged, meaning the financial hit to the offender was far more modest.

Sundstrom's lawyer Jay Solomon said his client -- who has no prior criminal record -- is being punished for owning his house outright.

"There's an unfairness if one person is being penalized essentially $100,000 versus $600,000," Solomon said."He suffered a more serious penalty because he bought the property 20 years ago when property on the Sunshine Coast was cheap."

Robert Prior, chief federal prosecutor for B.C., said Sundstrom has only himself to blame.

"Certainly the more money someone has wrapped up in a property, the greater they might feel the loss," said Prior. "Whether it's fair or not, that individual knew what risk they were taking."

Prior added the decision illustrates that growing marijuana in B.C. is a high-risk gamble.

"It's a pretty strong message ... from the courts that people could face some pretty significant consequences if convicted," he said.

Sundstrom pleaded guilty to production of marijuana and possession for the purposes of trafficking after police raided his home in December 2006.

He argued in court that he didn't know he risked losing his home and that he should receive a $75,000 fine or only lose a portion of his equity.

In a decision last year, Quebec's Court of Appeal ruled that a marijuana grower in that province should only lose half the value of his house.

Baird Ellan wrote that she was sympathetic to the idea, but noted that judgments by B.C.'s Court of Appeal make it clear that forfeiture in this province is an all-or-nothing decision.

Solomon said Sundstrom plans to appeal the ruling.

The larger question of whether courts can order partial forfeiture of a criminal's property will go before the Supreme Court of Canada on Nov. 13, when it hears an appeal of the Quebec case along with two B.C. growers who lost their homes.

In Sundstrom's case, Baird Ellan ruled forfeiture was appropriate because of the size and sophistication of his operation.

According to the judgment, Sundstrom had three underground bunkers on his property designed specifically for growing marijuana.

Two bunkers -- one beneath a shed, the other under a Quonset hut -- were concealed under heavy floor panels that could only be lifted by using a heavy-duty jacking system.

A third bunker under Sundstrom's home was accessible through a hatch concealed under his coffee table.

Sundstrom also had several security measures in place to protect his crop, including a loaded rifle, a fence, a motion detector and a smoke screen that could be activated by a switch next to his bed.

When police raided Sundstrom's property, they found 794 plants and more than 360 grams of dried marijuana in a freezer.

Prosecutors argued the existing crop had a street value of $44,000 and that Sundstrom could harvest seven crops a year, though he argued his operation was much smaller than that.

Baird Ellan found that while some of the marijuana Sundstrom grew may have been for medicinal purposes -- to treat his prostate cancer and his wife's fibromyalgia -- his primary purpose was to turn a profit.

Sundstrom's home in the 2600-block of Lower Road, is at the top of a long, steep driveway marked by a concrete address pillar, a sign advertising his home-based furniture restoration business Rainbow Restorations and a Peninsula Alarm warning sign.

The sprawling property includes a ranch-style home, front yard cottage and half a dozen storage sheds.

None of the buildings is visible from the road, a rural residential street about four kilometres from Gibsons Landing.

A burgundy Dodge Caravan was parked in front of the house Thursday, its side door open with a full load of hardware items inside, but Sundstrom did not appear to be on the property.

A flatdeck truck with the logo of Sundstrom's other business, Coastal Cast Stone, was parked in the densely landscaped yard, now overgrown.

Neighbours described Sundstrom as intensely private and eccentric.

"I've lived here 10 years and I've never laid eyes on him," said Rosemary Tindale-Mister, who lives across the street.

Sundstrom purchased his home in 1987 for just under $60,000, according to the ruling.

Baird Ellan found that its increase in value since then was due primarily to the rising real estate market and had little to do with any investments Sundstrom made in the property.

The size of the forfeiture in Sundstrom's case led Baird Ellan to be more lenient in sentencing.

Normally, she wrote, she would have given Sundstrom a nine-month jail sentence. However, because of the forfeiture, he got 15 months house arrest.

Sundstrom's home was seized under a section of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that permits the seizure of property used to commit an offence.

The proceeds of the sale of Sundstrom's house will be turned over to the federal government.

Two years ago, the B.C. government enacted its own Civil Forfeiture Act, which allows it to go after crime-related property.





Pot Grower's Punishment Could Have Been More Fitting

What will happen to Roy Sundstrom and his wife now that Judge Carol Baird Ellan has ruled they must forfeit their home for growing marijuana?

With his prostate cancer and her fibromyalgia, I'm guessing they probably aren't eligible for regular employment.

Do they have anywhere to live now or any other source of income or are they going to have to apply for welfare so the B.C. taxpayer can support them?

Now, if Sundstrom had been trafficking to organized crime and/or kids, I'd have no sympathy for him.

However, it would seem more just to put his expertise to work growing medicinal marijuana for the thousands of people who need it.

His operation could be taxed at a rate in keeping with the community service he would be providing and the proceeds could help to fund mental health services, drug rehabilitation, housing -- or maybe even the recent salary increases given to B.C. government bureaucrats.

Liz Stonard

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