Lulzim Jakupaj abused power as cabbie, sentenced to 4 years for on-the-job break and enter
Former St. John's cab driver Lulzim "Leon" Jakupaj has been sentenced to four years for an on-the-job break and enter, with the judge stressing the importance of public safety in taxis.
The sentencing came down at Supreme Court in St. John's Wednesday morning. It fell in the higher range of the two sentences suggested by the Crown and defence.
Jakupaj, 33, was found guilty of break and enter with intent to commit an indictable offence by Chief Justice Raymond Whalen in March.
Whalen said Wednesday that "citizens of St. John's, citizens of the province and citizens of Canada must feel safe hailing a taxi cab."
He referred to case law which said, "If we can't trust taxi drivers in our community then who can we trust?"
Elbowed man in face
Jakupaj picked up a 22-year-old woman from George Street on May 21, 2016. He watched her enter the Kilbride apartment before following her inside.
The woman's ex-boyfriend saw Jakupaj and grabbed him, but Jakupaj managed to get away.
Jakupaj elbowed the man in the face while attempting to escape— something Whalen referenced during his sentencing.
Crown attorney Dana Sullivan said Jakupaj wasn't at the apartment to commit a theft, but rather to commit a sexual assault and asked for between four-and-a-half to five years in prison.
However, no evidence was presented to support this.
Jakupaj's defence lawyer argued Jakupaj has post-traumatic stress disorder from living in war-torn Kosovo, and has learned from the incident. She had asked for 12 months, minus time served.
However, Whalen said his sentence must protect the public and serve as a deterrent for Jakupaj and other offenders.
Jakupaj held a position of trust, Whalen said, and "abusing that power in my view is significantly aggrevating."
Would rather war than HMP
During a sentencing hearing June 19, Jakupaj explained he came from a large family and became caught up in the armed conflict in Kosovo at the age of 12.
"I wasn't sexually abused but I was physically, mentally, like more than enough," he told the court.
Years later, he was shot, he said.
Despite the horrors of war, Jakupaj said he'd rather go back to that then Her Majesty's Penitentiary in St. John's, where he was held following his guilty verdict.
"I would rather go to war because at least I'd be free to run or fight. In jail you can't fight or you're living with other people's troubles, and I mean, let's face it, it's not helping me at all."
He was taken off his medication in HMP, he said, a common practice in the province's largest prison, and one that has come under heavy scrutiny in the past.
"I've had no medication whatsoever except he (prison physiatrist) is giving me some sort of sleeping pill which has nothing to do with my problems."
His PTSD, Jakupaj said, caused him to have trust issues and get angry.
However, Whalen determined there was no evidence to suggest Jakupaj's PTSD played a factor in the break and enter.
The court will credit Jakupaj one and a half times for the 237 days already spent in jail. He will also be placed under a DNA order and will have to pay a $200 victim surcharge fine.
In the fall, Jakupaj will go to trial for sexual assault charges.
