A Surrey man sentenced to 12 years in prison for the attempted murder of a university student who was mistaken for a rival gang member has been awarded $1,000 in costs for a legal battle he won related to a cellular phone found in his cell at Kent Institution in Agassiz.
Saeed Mobeen Rana began serving time in 2018 after he was arrested in connection with the shooting of a 19-year-old student in Surrey on April 4, 2016. The victim survived but cannot be named by order of the court.
In a recent decision from the Federal Court of Canada, Madam Justice Elizabeth Walker ordered the Attorney General of Canada to pay $1,000 in costs to Rana, who was accused of concealing a cell phone and two chargers in the wall of his cell at Kent Institution.
In August 2022, the Independent Chairperson of Kent Institution found Rana guilty of possession of contraband in contravention of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, and imposed a fine of $45.
The chairperson’s finding was based on evidence of a routine search by prison “officers,” who noticed the screws on the suicide prevention hooks in Rana’s cell had been tampered with. The officers removed the fixture and found a cell phone and two chargers.
Rana had resided in the cell for more than a year.
“The [main investigating] officer did not recall whether there had been a prior routine enhanced search of Mr. Rana’s cell, but stated that it had been subject to other routine searches, as well as ‘intel-based searches,’” according to Walker’s written decision, released July 25.
“The alterations on the security screws were plain and obvious and attracted the officers’ attention fairly quickly when they entered the cell.”
Drugs, phones
The officer told the chairperson during a disciplinary hearing that cell phones and drugs had been found in Rana’s possession in the past, during his incarceration.
The chairperson also heard there were “a number of instances” during the preceding six months to a year where inmates used suicide prevention hooks in their cells to conceal items.
The officer had personally been involved in finding “probably six to 12 phones as well as vast quantities of drugs” behind security hooks, said Walker in her decision.
Rana’s lawyer, Melanie Begalka, argued that it could not be established definitively that Rana had knowledge and control of the items. Begalka said there was no evidence that Rana had a tool that would have enabled him to remove the security hooks and conceal the items.
In addition, she said, there had been no search of his cell prior to him moving in.
“Therefore, there was no clear evidence as to whether the contraband was not already stored in the cell before Mr. Rana became the occupant,” said the ruling, summarizing Begalka’s argument.
Drug traffickers
The chairperson, however, was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Rana had “care, control and knowledge” of the phone and chargers found in his cell behind the suicide hooks.
Walker disagreed, saying the chairperson’s decision was “conclusory in nature, other than in referencing the evidence of some tampering and a lack of caulking around the hooks.”
“The [chairperson] does not explain the evidence or the chain of reasoning that led to the inference and conclusion that Mr. Rana had care, control and knowledge of the contraband found behind the suicide hooks in his cell,” Walker said.
“Mr. Rana is left to speculate as to the elements of the officer’s evidence that led to his conviction. Although the [Attorney General of Canada] describes the evidence from which, in its view, an inference of guilt could reasonably have been drawn, the [chairperson] does not do so. It is not the court’s role to supplement the reasons given by the [chairperson] for their decision.”
Added Walker: “The decision of the Independent Chairperson of Kent Institution is quashed and the matter remitted for determination on the record as already constituted. The respondent shall pay to Mr. Rana as costs the sum of $1,000.00.”
Rana, who was 23 at the time of the shooting in Surrey, was convicted Feb. 5, 2018, of attempted murder with a restricted firearm, possession of a loaded restricted firearm and the unauthorized possession of a restricted firearm in a motor vehicle.
Details of the shooting were outlined in a sentencing ruling delivered by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Pearlman in April 2018. A document of the ruling described Rana at the time as one of two bosses of a group of drug traffickers who operated dial‑a‑dope lines in the Lower Mainland.
20 rounds fired
On the day of the shooting, Rana and associates opened fire on a BMW sedan owned by the victim’s father. Approximately 20 rounds were fired into the vehicle, according to the sentencing document, noting the victim was hit in his left thigh.
As Rana and his associates fled the scene, they observed a white sedan turning onto another street, “at which point they realized they had shot up the wrong vehicle.” The victim continues to fear for his security, the document said.
“In my view, a significant sentence is required to denounce Mr. Rana’s conduct and to impress upon him and others that recourse to the use of firearms, particularly in residential areas or other public places, will attract a severe penalty,” Pearlman said at the time.
“As I have previously noted, the aggravating factors in this case include the large number of rounds fired, the location of the offence in a residential neighbourhood, the degree of planning, including Mr. Rana’s recruitment and arming of two gunmen, and the traumatic impact of the offence on the victim.”
Added Pearlman: “I also take into account that Mr. Rana is a relatively young man who has expressed remorse and a desire to put the criminal lifestyle behind him. He has the support of his family and the potential for rehabilitation.”
Rana was sentenced to 12 years, but given credit for 593 days for time served since his arrest. He was eligible for parole in 2021 and his statutory release date is in March 2025, according to Correctional Service Canada.
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