Bre McAdam
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
A Saskatoon judge says he doesn’t believe that Ahmad Ali Rahimi was unaware that a box he put in the back of his girlfriend’s Land Rover contained around $14,000 to $33,000 worth of cocaine.
Last week, Justice Colin Clackson convicted Rahimi, 36, of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking after a Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench trial was held in January.
In his decision, Clackson summarized the evidence heard at trial.
After several days of surveillance, Rahimi was stopped while driving the Land Rover, which was registered to Jessica Litman, on Nov. 18, 2021. He had $5,000 in his pocket, $355 in his wallet, two cellphones and a box that contained nearly 200 grams of cocaine.
In an initial news release, police said 750 grams of cocaine was found.
At trial, Rahimi said Litman instructed him to put the box in the back of her vehicle while he was helping her prepare for a trip to Calgary. He said he offered to put gas in her vehicle and run other errands before returning it to Litman for her road trip.
While he admitted moving the box from a house on Avenue X South to the Land Rover, he denied knowing what was inside.
“There’s no logical reason why the owner of the cocaine would risk exposure or theft of such valuable cargo by sending it along on errands unrelated to the contents of the box,” Clackson said.
Police determined the cocaine was split up into one and five ounce packages. There was also empty plastic packaging and buffing agent.
Rahimi was shown a photo of a blue nylon bag found inside the box. He said it was similar to a bag he’d seen used for “cash out” at Litman’s restaurant.
Litman owned Aria Food and Spirits in Saskatoon’s Rosewood neighbourhood, which closed after Logan Nayneecassum was fatally shot during an argument inside the restaurant’s exit door on Aug. 21, 2020.
Litman testified at the convicted killer’s Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench trial in 2023. She didn’t testify at Rahimi’s trial; Clackson noted that she was initially arrested, but released without charges.
Court heard Rahimi was a truck driver who sold used vehicles on the side. He said the $5,355 police found on him came from selling a 2006 Nissan Maxima and a 2004 Dodge Ram a few days earlier.
However, he couldn’t remember the names of either the purchasers or the sellers, and admitted that neither vehicle was registered in his name because he didn’t want SGI to know he was engaged in used vehicle sales.
Federal Crown prosecutor Carleen Ready said Rahimi would have known about the drugs given the significant quantity and value. An officer testified that the amount was typical of an “upper-level dealer.”
Defence lawyer Patrick Fagan argued that, given their relationship, Litman would have trusted Rahimi to safeguard the contents without telling him what they were.
“I do not believe that Mr. Rahimi put the box in the Land Rover on the instructions of Ms. Litman, nor do I believe that the money found in his pants pockets was derived from the sale of the used vehicles,” Clackson concluded.
Fagan initially requested a pre-sentence report, and Ready asked that Rahimi’s bail be revoked until sentencing. After a break in proceedings, Fagan and Ready jointly proposed a sentence of three and a half years in prison, which Clackson accepted.
Court heard Rahimi received a three-year sentence in 2014 for possession for the purpose of trafficking. He also has two prior convictions for drug possession and one breach of a conditional sentence order.
Fagan said his client was born in Afghanistan and fled to Canada after the Taliban killed his father in 1995.
“He plans to stay out of trouble from this point forward,” he said, adding Rahimi had no comment for the court.
