Prison guard gets 3 years for aiding escape

AB.C. prison guard who helped a high-profile convict escape was sentenced to three years and three months in jail Friday afternoon.

Edwin Ticne, 35, pleaded guilty in April to obstruction of justice and accepting a bribe in connection with Omid Tahvili's escape from the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam last November.

Before he wassentenced on Friday, Ticne apologized for helping Tahvili dress up as a janitor and walk out the front door of the high-security prison.

Surveillance video from the night of the escape showed Ticne leading Tahvili, an alleged Iranian-Canadian gang leader, through four security gates to freedom.

At the sentencing hearing Friday,Ticne, dressed in a black suit, looked solemn as he waved goodbye to a small group of family and friends in the New Westminster courtroom.

After Judge Peter Leask sentenced Ticne, he acknowledged the time in prison will be hard for the former B.C. corrections officer, and wished him good luck.

The judge said he took into account a psychiatrist's report that Ticne was in the midst of a major depressive episode at the time of the escape.

The psychiatrist saidTicne was a pathological gambler who had problems with alcohol and suffered stress from work and his family.

The judge also said he believed Ticne did not receive the money Tahvili had promised.

Crown asked for 5 to 10 years

But Leask also read from a victim impact statement that stated many guards at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre felt angry and betrayed by the escape.

Reg Harris, Ticne's lawyer, had asked for a sentence of two to three years, arguing Tahvili was a sophisticated manipulator who exploited a weakness in his client.

Crown council had asked for a sentence of five to 10 years.

Before the sentencing hearing began, the judge was told that Tahvili had contacted police this week, saying he is in Toronto and would like to negotiate a return to B.C.

At the time of his escape, Tahvili was awaiting sentencing after being convicted of kidnapping, sexual assault, unlawful confinement, uttering threats and causing bodily harm. He was eventually sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The escape was the first in the history of the prison, which first opened in2001. Earlier this week, a second prisoner escaped from the high-security prison by posing as another prisoner, who was due to be released.