Appeal court affirms order to Toews to accept prisoner transfer from U.S.

TORONTO – The Federal Appeal Court has upheld an order to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to accept the transfer to Canada of a prisoner serving his sentence in a U.S. jail for drug possession.

The decision says Toews should immediately approve the transfer request of Yves LeBon, a Quebec man in a Georgia prison for cocaine possession.

In March 2009, U.S. authorities approved his request for a move to a Canadian facility, but Toews turned his application down.

The Federal Appeal Court ruling says a Federal Court judge was correct to conclude that Toews kept a closed mind in rejecting LeBon’s request.

The appeal court judges have ordered Toews to transfer LeBon back to Canada in March or at the earliest time after.

LeBon entered New York state by car in August 2007 and was stopped in Illinois a few days later by a state trooper who discovered 119 kilograms of cocaine inside the vehicle.