A man arrested following a 2016 drive-by shooting on Wakesiah Avenue in Nanaimo was sentenced to nine years in jail.
Armaan Singh Chandi, 22, was one of two men arrested following the shooting on March 1, 2016. He and Inderpal Singh Aujla, 22, were apprehended following a multi-jurisdictional car chase that ended in Duncan. The man who was shot at, a Vancouver Island University international student, was innocent, not the intended target, and wasn’t physically injured.
Chandi was found guilty by Judge Robin Baird in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo in February and was sentenced Thursday. Caroline Narraway and Nick Barber, co-Crown counsel, sought a 10-year jail sentence, while Richard Fowler, defence counsel, sought a range of eight to nine years.
Baird sentenced Chandi to nine years in a federal penitentiary for the count of attempted murder using a restricted firearm, one year for concealing his face while committing an indictable offence, two years for dangerous driving and two years for failing to stop for a peace officer. The sentences, minus time served, is to be served concurrently.
Armaan Singh Chandi, arrested after #2016 drive-by in #Nanaimo, sentenced to 9 years in jail in #bcsupremecourt.
— Karl Yu (@KarlYuBulletin) May 16, 2019
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There was a discrepancy over what credit Chandi would receive for time served. Crown contended he had 471 days and Fowler said 756 days, but in the end, Baird decided on 756 days.
The case went to trial in January and prior to that, Aujla pleaded guilty to use of a restricted firearm for attempted murder and fleeing from police. He was sentenced to seven years in jail by a provincial court judge on Feb. 7.
Crown sought a 10-year driving prohibition in addition to jail time, but Baird said seeing as Aujla was driving during the chase and didn’t get a driving ban, neither should Chandi.
Chandi will be prohibited from owning weapons for 10 years, however.
Chandi had previously pleaded guilty to unrelated assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm charges, stemming from an August 2017 stabbing incident at Harrison Hot Springs. He was sentenced to time served in March at provincial court in Chilliwack.
While Crown wasn’t able to get the driving prohibition, Barber said it was a “fit and just sentence.”
“If you compare (the driving prohibition) to what the real issue was here, which was what kind of time period was he going to spend in custody, it’s not a factor that we’re too concerned about,” said Barber. “Obviously, it would have been nice to have some kind of driving prohibition at the end of the day, but I certainly understand [Baird’s] reasons why he didn’t get one.”
Fowler did not wish to comment.
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