Francois Meerholz says he'd rather stay in Canada and go to jail than be deported to South Africa and have his charges dropped.
"I'd definitely rather be in Canada and face those charges and if I am convicted I'll basically take responsibility for it and do what I have to do to get past it," the 23-year-old Prince George resident said Wednesday in an exclusive interview.
Meerholz, who police say is involved in the city's gang scene, has lived in Canada since he was 10 years old.
Unless he's deported - which could occur as soon as Monday - Meerholz will stand trial in March on seven firearms-related charges and in September on charges of driving while impaired, dangerous driving and flight from a peace officer.
"I don't want to go back [to South Africa] because the charges would be dropped," he said. "I still want to face them, I still want to try and better myself here and I want to create my life here."
Meerholz and his brother, Dillan, 20, were moved to Canada from South Africa in 1999 to live with an aunt and uncle and a chance at a better future.
But roughly 18 months later, "they just basically said they couldn't take care of us anymore" and the brothers were moved into foster care.
About a year later, Francois ran away from his foster parents and once apprehended, he was put into group homes while Dillan remained in foster care. While Dillan largely steered clear of trouble, Francois got in trouble with the law.
"Whatever mistakes I did make, I'm not trying to say it's someone else's fault because I do make my own choices, but I definitely didn't have the right kind of guidance," he said. "Just family wise, I didn't really have anybody to look up to. Basically, I felt like I got abandoned.
"I can't explain how it affected me but when we were given up, it really just didn't help things.
We didn't know anything about this country when we first came here and after being here for like a year with our aunt and uncle, they just kind of give us up so we were definitely lost in our childhood, he said.
After convictions for theft and possession of stolen property in 2007, Francois Meerholz was ordered deported in Nov. 2008.
But he was given a reprieve in March 2009 when federal officials stayed his deportation for 18 months provided he live up to a number of conditions, including "not committing any criminal offences," and "if charged with a criminal offence, immediately report that fact in writing" to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
But he failed to report the firearms charges and was picked up by the CBSA for deportation. The story broke when the Vancouver Sun reported Meerholz was released from custody into the custody of his brother on $5,000 bail pending deportation, despite alleged gang ties.
Meerholz was scheduled to be removed this past Monday but the date was moved back to this coming Monday.
Meerholz said he would never have been in the predicament had his citizenship been straightened out while he was a minor. But he also regrets failing to alert CBSA to the new charges.
"This really came out of nowhere, I wasn't expecting this at all," he said. "I thought it was all over with in [2009]... I got to stay under some conditions but after the hearing, I was so relieved and excited and I didn't realize how serious those conditions were and I forgot about them."
A big reason Meerholz wants to stay in Canada is he's engaged to marry Ashley Freake - they've known each other since age 13. Having Ashley and her daughter from a previous relationship follow Meerholz to South Africa is a nonstarter because both of their extended families would remain in Prince George. They've also opted against a marriage of convenience to keep Meerholz in Canada.
"That's not the right way to do things either," said Ashley's mother, Debbie, who also attended the interview. "Because then people say, 'oh, you're only together because of the deportation.' They want people to know they're together because they love each other."
He dismissed allegations of gang connections as unwarranted. Police say Meerholz wears the bottom rocker or partial patch of the Renegades biker gang, a puppet club of the Hells Angels and is a member of the Game Tight Soldiers, which runs the street-level cocaine trade in conjunction with the Renegades.
Police also say Dillan, who is to stand trial in Feb. 15 on charges of aggravated assault and assault causing bodily harm and five counts of breach of a recognizance, is at the bottom of the GTS.
"There really is no evidence that I'm a gang member besides the fact that sure, I've been seen at local bars with people that are in the same thing, having the accusation about them that they are gang members," he said.
If he is deported, Meerholz will likely end up living with his mother in Johannesburg but will continue to fight to get back to Canada.
"I really have nothing to go back to there," he said. "I have more of a chance of success here and I have people behind me that I don't want to leave."
