Ottawa ordered to pay convicted drug dealer for damaged travel trailer

The federal government has been ordered to pay a Nova Scotia man more than $25,000 in damages for items that were seized and held for years while his drug trafficking case made its way through the courts.

RCMP seized a long list of vehicles and antiques from Daniel Joseph Innocente when they first accused him of conspiring to trafficin cocaine and cannabis resin in June 1996.

The items seized included a Ford Thunderbird, a 1955 Chevy Bel Air, a 1987 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a travel trailer.

The items were held by the federal Seized Property Management Directoratewhile thecase made its way through the courts. The process was dragged out by appeals and a hung jury before being thrown out by ajudge in 2000. Innocente was serving a seven-year sentence for other drug trafficking charges at the time.

The items were eventuallyreturned to Innocente, but he saidthe governmentfailed to take proper care of them and they sustained substantial damage.

Claimed more than 50K in damages

Innocente, who represented himself in a civil lawsuit, argued the total damages exceeded $50,000.Lawyers for the government counteredthe damaged items were worth no more than $13,785.

In a decision released this week, Justice Robert W. Wright of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court found the damages fell in the middle of the two claims.

Wright orderedthe government to pay Innocente more than $17,500 in compensation for the trailer, which was valued at more than $18,000 when it was seized. It was left outdoors and unprotected, leading to considerable water damage and making it unlivable. Innocente sold it for $500 to someone who planned to use it for a hunting camp.

The rest of the money was for repairs to the ATVs and other items.

Wright noted there wasn't enough paperwork on some of the items, including most of the antiques, to prove ownership or support Innocente's damage claims.

At one of his trafficking trials, court heard how Innocente used a Ford Thunderbird with a secret compartment to ferry drugs to Halifax from Montreal. The Crown said the car was used on at least a dozen trips between the two cities.