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Lawyer for alleged Calgary gangster to push for his release from custody

CALGARY — The lawyer for an alleged Calgary gangster is hoping to get a hearing in the next few days to try and free Jackie Tran from custody.

CALGARY — The lawyer for an alleged Calgary gangster is hoping to get a hearing in the next few days to try and free Jackie Tran from custody.

Federal Court Justice Yves de Montigny granted Tran a last-minute reprieve from deportation late Saturday.

Tran’s lawyer, Raj Sharma, said he was happily surprised by the decision. It’s the latest development in his client’s five-year bid to stay in Canada.

“Obviously, Mr. Tran is ecstatic,” Sharma said after talking to his client.

Prior to the stay being granted, Tran, whose real name is Nghia Trong Nguyen-Tran, faced imminent deportation to Vietnam. But Sharma wants to take the case to the Federal Court to argue that errors were made in an earlier ruling on a 2004 deportation order.

Tran was first ordered deported to his birth country on April 20, 2004, after being convicted of trafficking cocaine

A police witness told an Immigration and Refugee Board Tribunal earlier this year that Tran is a member of an organized crime group.

He is being held at the Calgary Remand Centre but Sharma is hoping for a hearing as early as Wednesday where he’ll argue for his client’s release.

(Calgary Sun)