Pubdate: Mon, 22 Jan 2007
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Matthew Ramsey, The Province

TRAFFICKING PAIR JAILED BUT GET TO KEEP GOLD TEETH

Two Washington state men with gold teeth who smuggled guns into 
Canada and drugs into the U.S. have been jailed.

Donald Jamar Lewis, 27, was sentenced Friday to 16 years and Flenard 
Neal, 25, got 14 years.

"We hope that we never find a person was killed by one of the guns 
you trafficked up there [to Canada]," Judge Ronald Leighton said in 
U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Neal was arrested in December 2005 trying to enter the U.S. with 
marijuana and ecstasy pills stuffed into the doors of his car.

In January 2006, police found guns, cocaine and marijuana in the 
apartment the pair shared in Lakewood.

Later that month, Canadian customs officers at the Vancouver mail 
centre X-rayed a package sent from Tacoma to a B.C. address and found 
two loaded handguns inside. The package was traced to Neal and Lewis.

In the spring of 2006, U.S. officials tried to seize their gold 
ornamental teeth as proceeds of crime. "Grills" -- slang for the 
cosmetic dental appliances -- can cost as much as $25,000. The men's 
lawyers argued successfully that removing the grills would hurt their 
clients' dental health.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine