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Qalid Abderezak sentenced in 2022 to 12 years after guilty plea, less about five years for pretrial custody
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He was a hired gun for the tow-truck mafia and he had a GTA lawyer in his crosshairs.
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How ironic that Qalid Abderezak had to turn to lawyers to try to overturn his convictions — an effort that has been roundly denied by Ontario’s highest court.
Vaughan civil litigation lawyer Lisa Carr represented insurance companies that were taking on tow-truck operators and their partner body shops for charging exorbitant impound, fake repair and storage fees.
Abderezak was one of several men hired to make her stop.
In January 2019, her office was targeted by a fire bombing. On Aug. 23, 2019, days after Carr Law appeared in court on behalf of an insurance company suing a tow-truck firm, a Mercedes pulled up beside Carr’s blue RAV4 and opened fire. The gun was loaded, but fortunately it jammed and she was unaware of the attempt on her life.
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It only came to light on Sept. 10, 2019, when Thomas Sliwinski was arrested for possession of a stolen Mercedes and a video of the incident was discovered on his cellphone.
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Sliwinski admitted he’d been hired for the “hit” and pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm at Carr and unauthorized possession of a loaded restricted firearm, though insisted he always intended to botch the assassination.
Six days after Sliwnski’s misfire, it was Abderezak’s turn to try to scare her away.
On bail for robbery and gun charges and under an order not to possess weapons, Abderezak got his instructions from Zakariye Yousuf. He pointed his gun at a woman sitting in her car outside the Carr Law office.
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“You are suing the wrong people,” he warned the lawyer who resembled Carr.
“Do you want to have kids? Do you want to grow old? Then stop suing my friend.”
Abderezak cocked the gun, she said, and demanded her wallet.
In early September, Carr Law was back in litigation against a tow-truck operation. Abderezak got a text from Yousuf to finish the job: “We have to go spry up the place cuz we din’t get the right one.” Just after 5 p.m., Abderezak returned to the law office and sprayed seven bullets through the front.
“Someone could have been injured or killed,” said Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst.
After pleading guilty to robbery using a restricted firearm, reckless discharge of a restricted firearm, unauthorized possession of a restricted firearm and possession of a restricted weapon while prohibited by a release order, Abderezak was sentenced in 2022 to 12 years, less about five years for pretrial custody.
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Abderezak appealed, arguing his sentence was too long considering the judge sentenced Yousuf to only 10 years when he claimed his co-accused was equally, if not more, responsible by relaying their orders.
The appeal court said Fuerst addressed the difference during Yousuf’s sentencing when she rejected the Crown’s submission that she hand him a 14-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to extortion by use of a restricted firearm to stop the lawyer from pursuing legal action and to intentional discharge of a restricted firearm at Carr Law office knowing or being reckless as to whether another person was present.
“He was not the architect of the tactics intended to intimidate Ms. Carr, nor was it established that he was the source of any restricted firearm and ammunition that Mr. Abderezak used, nor was he present with Mr. Abderezak when the latter robbed (the other female lawyer) believing her to be Ms. Carr or when he discharged seven gunshots into Carr Law office,” the judge said during her 2023 ruling.
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“Mr. Yousuf’s role was that of the middleman who gave directions to Mr. Abderezak on behalf of someone else.”
Fuerst found he deserved a lower sentence than Abderezak because of his diminished responsibility and younger age. “A sentence of 14 years in jail would be crushing for Mr. Yousuf,” she concluded.
The appeal court would not interfere with his sentence. “We see no error in the sentencing judge’s analysis or conclusion,” wrote Justice Michal Fairburn on behalf of the three-judge panel.
So he remains safely in jail, at least for now. And the lawyer he intimidated? The police at the time advised her to shutter her office and flee the country.
mmandel@postmedia.com
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