A New Westminster man "in the business of death" will spend the next 13 years in prison after a Supreme Court ruling Friday.
Aleksander Radjenovic, 28, who pleaded guilty in March to three counts of counselling to commit murder and one count of possessing a firearm while prohibited, was handed an 18-year sentence by Justice Kathleen Ker, but received double credit for more than two years spent in pre-trial custody.
Defense attorney Michael Klein had argued for a sentence between five and eight years on the grounds Radjenovic was simply "a middleman, a buffer and a facilitator."
Justice Ker took note of Radjenovic's youth, community support, lack of previous record, and guilty plea in her decision, but based the sentence largely on Radjenovic's "complete and callous disregard for the sanctity of the life of not only the targets . . . but also innocents caught in the crossfire."
Despite numerous scouting trips by the trigger man - who turned into a police agent (PA) in April 2009 - none of the murders were carried out.
Due to a publication ban, the identity of the PA cannot be revealed.
Wiretap evidence obtained for police through PA ultimately proved Radjenovic made no attempt to back off organizing the hits, as his defence had argued.
"I find Mr. Radjenovic is anything but a reluctant participant in this venture," said Justice Ker. "The overall course of his dealings with the agent establishes that Mr. Radjenovic was moving the enterprise forward, changing tactics and targets when matters became too complicated."
The three intended targets of the hits were Metro Vancouver residents Sandip Duhre (reportedly a former associate of the late Bindy Johal), Dustin Meehan and Andre Remeckie.
Radjenovic, who owned a Burnaby gun shop called "The Royal Sportsman" at the age of 24, became involved with his friend-turned-agent in importing illegal firearms from Eastern Europe and was charged, alongside five others, with weapons offences in 2006.
The weapons were allegedly ending up in the hands of gangsters across Canada.
PA was paid $100,000 plus a bonus of $30,000 in 2006 to open a warehouse storage business to house the weapons at the request of Radjenovic.
In November 2008, PA was paid $23,000 through Radjenovic to be part of a team of assassins and was provided with a stash house in New Westminster to hide the potential murder weapons - an AR15 assault rifle (meant to penetrate an armoured vehicle) and a CZ TT9 handgun.
PA turned to the police after encountering problems executing the hits of Duhre and Remeckie.
Knowing Remeckie was a target, police found he was wanted in Alberta on an outstanding warrant and jettisoned him out of B.C. through the Con Air program.
Radjenovic originally faced 15 charges, 12 of which were firearms related.
The former high school basketball star for Burnaby South Secondary School immigrated to Canada from war-torn Yoguslavia in the mid-1990s.
Justice Ker said Radjenovic has a "substantial possibility of rehabilitation" and is "very lucky" to still have the support of his loyal family and community.
