By Keith Lacey
A former Sudbury restaurant owner will be returning to the penitentiary for several years after being found guilty Friday of possessing a large quantity of hard drugs for the purpose of trafficking and possession of stolen goods.
George Mastorakis, 62, was found guilty of 11 of 12 counts, including nine counts of possessing a wide variety of drugs, including cocaine, crack cocaine, hash oil and hundreds of high-powered prescription drugs. The street value of the drugs was estimated by police at between $17, 000 and $22,000.
Justice Patricia Hennessy of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice said she had no doubt Mastorakis knew about the drugs police found in his home, and that he was the man responsible for them being there and having in his possession for trafficking purposes.
Hennessy said the theory presented by defence counsel Glenn Sandberg that a tenant at Mastorakis?s Lonsdale Avenue home was responsible for possessing and hiding the drugs in the accused?s home was not credible.
?The evidence is overwhelming that the drugs belonged to Mastorakis,? said the judge.
The defence theory a tenant had planted most of the drugs made no sense as he had been in jail for 12 days until the morning of the police raid , she said.
Mastorakis was on parole from the penitentiary on drug trafficking charges when Greater Sudbury Police executed a drug search warrant and raided his home the morning of Jan. 9, 2001.
Inside, they found several packages of cocaine, a vial filled with a large amount of crack cocaine, a large jar of hash oil, hundreds of prescriptions pills and paraphenalia associated with the drug trade, including an electronic weigh scale and a ?debt list?.
They later raided a hock shop Mastorakis had planned on opening and found a large amount of stolen property, including a laptop computer, clothing and household items.
While it can?t be proven Mastorakis stole the items, there?s no doubt in her mind Mastorakis knew or should have known the items were stolen, she said.
Evidence from two key defence witnesses, including the mother of Mastorakis?s 12-year-old daughter, was not credible.
Both admitted to having serious drug problems and their testimony had far too many inconsistencies and contradictions, said Hennessy.
Mastorakis, who has remained in custody at the Sudbury District Jail since his arrest 16 months ago, will be sentenced July 5.
The Crown?s office is expected to ask for a penitentiary term of between six to eight years on top of time Mastorakis still has to serve on his previous trafficking charges.
Mastorakis is the former owner of George?s Deli, a popular downtown restaurant and blues bar in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
