BRAMPTON, Ont. - A Toronto man who admitted he procured weapons, arranged false travel documents and tried to recruit extremists for a domestic terrorist group that planned bloody attacks on Canadian targets deserves a seven-year prison term, a judge heard Wednesday.
In an agreed statement of facts, the Crown told court how Ali Dirie, who had pleaded guilty Monday, was close to the alleged co-leader of the so-called Toronto 18 and continued his role in the conspiracy even while incarcerated.
"In Canada, we make change by ballot, not by bullet," Crown lawyer Clyde Bond told Ontario Superior Court.
According to the statement of facts, Dirie knew the group followed an "extremist interpretation of Islam" and intended to commit terrorist acts.
Those acts were for a religious purpose and meant to "intimidate the public," Bond said.
Justice Bruce Durno convicted Dirie, 26, of one count of taking part in and helping a terrorist group. That makes Dirie the third person now convicted in the plot to bomb Canadian targets such as RCMP headquarters and nuclear facilities, attack Parliament and take hostages.
The Crown stayed a second charge of committing an offence for the group -- dubbed the Toronto 18 because of the number of people arrested in the summer of 2006 in the anti-terrorism sweep.
Dirie faces a maximum of 10 years.
In joining with the defence in suggesting a seven-year term, Bond said the sentence took into account two years Dirie earlier spent behind bars for firearms offences related to the plot.
That would make for an effective nine-year sentence, the Crown said.
Bond called the terrorism offence serious with "significant aggravating factors," including Dirie's criminal record dating back to 1999 for several petty offences such as credit-card fraud, assault, theft, and escaping custody.
Court also heard how Dirie had been jailed after being caught with loaded semi-automatic firearms at the Canada-U.S. border as he and another man returned from the United States in August 2005.
Even after getting caught, he continued his terror-related activities in jail, and has never shown any regrets for his crimes, Bond said.
Dressed in a grey hoodie, jeans and head-cap, Dirie earlier listened quietly to the 28-page account of the evidence against him, rising only to say softly, "Yes, I do," when asked by defence lawyer Robert Nuttall if he accepted the agreed statement of facts.
Much of the terror-group evidence against Dirie was based on wiretaps of telephone conversations he had with the alleged co-leader of the conspiracy, who cannot be named under a publication ban because he still faces trial.
Even after his incarceration, Dirie still considered himself an active member of the group and was devoted to the jihadist cause, court heard.
He continued trying to get guns for himself and others, tried to get false passports for himself and other group members, and tried to indoctrinate fellow inmates at Ontario's Collins Bay penitentiary to the extremist cause.
Court heard how the co-leader attempted to send him a package of books and CDs containing violent videos of attacks and bombings on military personnel and other jihadist propaganda.
"Dirie was recruiting people . . . to join the jihadist group," Bond said.
He also encouraged and advised the co-leader in a series of phone calls but rejected suggestions he take over leadership of the group.
During the calls, Dirie bragged about the pleasant conditions in jail -- including his access to a basketball court, showers and work.
"This place is luxury, man," he said during one call, court heard.
He also decried moderate Muslims and professed his readiness to "take orders."
The only bone of contention with the defence, Bond told Durno, was how much credit Dirie should get for pre-trial custody.
Bond said Dirie should serve at least another two years behind bars starting from Oct. 2, when Durno is scheduled to pass sentence.
Under Nuttall's submission, his client would be set free after sentencing.
Earlier this month, 23-year-old Saad Khalid was handed a 14-year prison sentence for his part in the plot after pleading guilty in May. Nishanthan Yogakrishnan, 21, was found guilty by a judge and convicted last September of participating in, and contributing to, a terrorist group.
In the summer of 2006, an intense investigation involving Canada's spy agency and the RCMP ended with the arrests of 18 people in the Toronto area and the seizure of apparent bomb-making materials.
Eight men, including the alleged leaders of the group, are in custody awaiting trial.
Seven of the 18 people arrested have since had their charges dropped or stayed.
