Mistaken identity frees alleged gangster from detention

A convicted drug trafficker fighting deportation has been released from custody in Calgary again, after immigration officials ruled that he did not breach his release conditions.

The Immigration and Refugee Board ordered Tran Trong Nghi Nguyen, 26, who goes by the name Jackie Tran, freed on Friday, on the belief that a Calgary police officer misidentified him on the night of the alleged breach.

Tran has been held in detention since Oct. 28, when he was arrested for allegedly breaking his curfew. He's been in and out of custody since January as he continues to fight a deportation order.

Calgary police allege that Tran is a gang member, and poses a risk to the public because of previous attempts on his life from rival gangs.

Tran, a permanent resident who moved to Canada in 1993, has been convicted of drug trafficking and assault with a weapon, which led to a removal order in April 2004. He's been appealing deportation ever since.

Last month, Const. Scott Bertrand who was investigating a bar stabbing, identified Tran as the man he saw in an SUV outside the establishment. He was subsequently arrested for breaching conditions.

But on Friday, Marc Tessler, a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, said he believes Bertrand made a mistake.

Shaun Roberts, who called himself an acquaintance of Tran's, testified that he was the person in the SUV that night, and not Tran.

A big issue for Tessler was the fact that Tran has a prominent scar across his forehead, which was not noted by the identifying officer.

Release conditions reinstated

Tran's mother and girlfriend also testified that he was home at the time of the alleged breach.

Dawn Ngo, Tran's long-time girlfriend, said that she phoned him four times that night on the land line at his mother's house, where he is required to live.

Tessler noted Ngo's parents are the people who posted two $10,000 bonds for Tran's release, so it would be in her interests that he abided by the 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew.

"Coupling their evidence with Mr. Roberts' evidence leads me to conclude that on the balance of probabilities Mr. Nguyen was at home on the night in question abiding by his curfew," he wrote in his ruling.

Because Tran did not break his conditions, Tessler said he did not feel he would be a flight risk and reinstated the same release terms as before Tran's arrest.

Tran's new appeal hearing is scheduled for Nov. 20.