(Prime Time Crime exclusive Dec. 20, 2004)
Parole too big a risk
By Leo Knight
Albert Foulston was supposed to get out of jail last week in Edmonton. Corrections Canada tried to let him go, but he decided it might be best for him if he stayed in a while longer. At least until someone could figure out how to let him go without attracting too much attention.
You see, Albert Foulston is not very well liked in Edmonton. On June 25, 1990 he and his partner, Jerry Crews killed a cop.
Ezio Faraone was only 33 years old on the day he died. He responded to the area of the city where a bank robbery had just taken place. He spotted Foulston and Crews in an alley and went to check them out. As Foulston approached Faraone, he raised his hands, for all the world looking like he was going to surrender to the lone officer. Crews stepped around from behind him and felled Faraone with a blast from a sawed-off shotgun.
In 1992, Foulston was convicted of manslaughter in Faraone’s death largely because Crews pulled the trigger. The judge in the case said Foulston knew Crews had the gun and was going to shoot Faraone. But, in an incomprehensible twist of judicial logic, he somehow concluded Foulston didn’t know Crews was going to kill him.
He received a 20 year sentence. In December of ’91, Crews was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 25 years.
Foulston is getting out on mandatory supervision, the type of parole everyone gets at the two-thirds mark in their sentence. Crews is eligible for a so-called “Faint Hope” hearing under Section 745 of the Criminal Code next year.
In Edmonton, where Faraone was a much-loved figure, they named a park on the river after him. There is a statue of him in that park kneeling down talking with a child. The police and the community were outraged when they heard one of his killers was being released.
The resulting outcry led the 41 year old Foulston to reconsider and ask Corrections Canada to hold off on that parole for now. According to Edmonton Detective Wil Townowski of the High Risk Offender Unit, “Foulston himself has said that he will remain in jail, voluntarily until at least, until after Christmas until he and Corrections officials can decide on a place for him to go.”
Difficulty deciding on where to send him? Allow me to help.
It may be a bit radical for Corrections Canada and the National Parole Board. But, if we take a look at Foulston’s past I think we can make a pretty good case for the decision.
Foulston had nearly fifty convictions when Constable Ezio Faraone was murdered. He was on parole at the time, clearly demonstrating he couldn’t give a fig for the rules of a civilized society. After fourteen years in jail he has over 100 violations on his institutional record and has spent much of his time in segregation because of his behaviour.
He’s a heroin junkie and has been consistently involved in the drug culture while in prison. He has constantly and consistently breached the rules of prison while there and every time he has be out on escorted or unescorted temporary absences. He’s been back and forth between medium and minimum security prisons because every time he is given a little more freedom he reverts to using heroin. The use of which, I might add, raises the likelihood of him re-offending violently.
He is a career criminal who has spent most of his adult life in jail. When out on parole, he consistently re-offends until he is caught again. He was first sentenced to prison for an armed robbery in 1980, ten years before he and Crews robbed the bank on the day they ended the life of Constable Ezio Faraone.
There is absolutely no reason to believe Foulston will not re-offend. The last time he was on parole, he robbed a bank and was involved in the killing of a cop. What can we expect for an encore?
The commissioner of the corrections service has the power to ensure he serves out a full sentence. I couldn’t think of a better case to use that power. Let the scumbag rot in jail.
See the decision really is easy.
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