'Victims' Of Toronto Hotel Shooting Sent To Jail For Half A DecadeFriday November 21, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff
It was an incredible case that still has only a partial ending. It involved an ambush, drug trafficking, life saving surgery and a shooting in one of the city's biggest and most prestigious hotels.
But now the duo involved will have some time to reflect on what happened - even though they were technically the victims of the brutal attack.
It happened at the Weston Harbour Castle in July 2006 when Evgene Starchik checked into a room at the inn along with his cohort Sean Erez (top left). But they weren't there for the room service or to spend the night.
Instead the men came to sell a load of cocaine valued at $800,000. But their deal never came to the payoff they were expecting. As Erez was coming down in the hotel's elevator, the doors opened and a gunman was waiting. He was riddled with bullets as he stood in the lift with no way out, and was left bleeding in the cage, seriously wounded.
His partner-in-crime, Starchik, who was waiting for him the parking garage, didn't escape unscathed either. He was confronted by an attacker who beat him and left him handcuffed and trapped in the structure.
The gunmen were never caught, but the two men weren't so fortunate. Police arrived to find both wounded and in need of medical attention and they were subsequently arrested on drug trafficking charges, with Erez eventually handcuffed to his bed as he recuperated in hospital after surgery.
Both were found guilty and on Friday, they learned their fate.
Erez will spend the next 8 years behind bars for his part in the deal gone bad while Starchik won't be out for six years. Both will get credit for time served.
The federal Crown attorney wasn't moved by the injuries the men suffered, noting they shouldn't have been conducting such a dangerous business in "a "busy, popular downtown hotel," and that their actions warrant the long sentences.
Erez was already out on parole for a previous conviction involving Ecstasy. He received 15 years for being the mastermind of an international smuggling ring that moved 750,000 MMDA pills from the US to Amsterdam.
The 38-year-old told the court he'd been given a "rough ride" during his incarnation at the Toronto Jail and called the botched drug operation the "scariest ordeal of my life." And he insisted the crime cost him everything - including his girlfriend, who was the key witness against him at his trial.
He showed the court the large scar on his abdomen and admitted that being shot at point blank rage was an "incredible" experience that still haunts him.
But Madam Justice J. Kiteley wasn't impressed by his bid for sympathy, noting he remains unrepentant, at one point interrupting her sentencing to shout out, "this is a farce."
Starchik, who also has a prior drug conviction, won't have much time for a reunion with his own criminal colleagues once his sentence is finished. He'll be deported to Israel when he gets out, and will be required to serve three years in the army back home.
Sketch and reporting by CityNews Court Specialist Marianne Boucher
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Now
THAT'S Canadian Justice!!!
