A Lower Mainland man was sentenced to one year house arrest Wednesday after he was found tending marijuana grow operations in two homes within the city.
In issuing the sentence to Qi Dong Qiu, 45, Prince George provincial court judge Victor Galbraith agreed with a joint submission from the Crown prosecution and defence counsel.
In making the case for house arrest, known in the courts as a conditional sentence, defence lawyer Mitch Foster said Qiu's troubles "started off with an admirable pursuit."
Following a divorce, Qiu had moved to Canada from China in 2002 with his one son, now 16 years old and in Grade 11. They had been living in the Killarney area of Vancouver where Qiu's son began to skip classes, do poorly in school, associate only with other Asians and never spoke English.
"He [Qiu] also saw Vancouver as a problem because there were too many distractions and things that his son could do during the day other than going to school," Foster said. "I mean no disrespect when I say he wanted to bring his son to a place where there is not as much to do."
By Christmas 2009, they were living in Prince George but Qiu had trouble finding work. Then one day he met a Chinese man in a grocery store, they struck up a conversation and got to know each other.
In time, the man offered Qiu a job watering the plants in the two homes and he accepted.
"He unfortunately decided that with his lack of work that it was something that he would do," Foster said.
Less than two weeks later, on March 24, 2010, Qiu was arrested and police seized over 1,200 plants in total from the two homes, located in the 3700 block of Shane Crescent and the 3000 block of Spruce Street.
Qiu never saw the man again and was never paid a penny of the $3,000 per month the man had offered him to do the work, Foster said.
The sentence means Qiu can work but is subject to a curfew and limited hours outside the home during the day. With the sentence now passed, Qiu intends to seek work as a restaurant cook. His son lives with an uncle where he will continue to stay until he's completed school.
Qiu, who became a Canadian citizen in 2008, relied on an interpreter who speaks Cantonese to follow the proceedings.
