A New Westminster man's decision not to answer his door last June kept him out of harm's way.
Waiting on the other side were five men planning to force their way inside, tie the man up and assault him until he handed over $40,000 worth of property they had come to collect.
Instead, the man called police and the suspects were arrested nearby.
Derek Chan, Rodi Chow, Felix Ho, William Jackson and Thieu Lam all pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit assault on the first day of their B.C. Supreme Court trial in May.
Chow and Jackson also pleaded guilty to possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
On June 6, 2010, Chan texted back and forth with a man who directed him to carry out the assault with the goal of recovering some property.
Chan, thinking he would earn $5,000 for the job, then enlisted the help of the other men and made a to-do list.
The next day the group went to a Rona in Burnaby and bought dust masks, gloves, plastic restraints, a knife and duct tape. Jackson brought a can of bear spray.
In New Westminster, Jackson and Chow knocked on the victim's door while Chan waited nearby. Ho and Lam stayed outside in an alley. When there was no answer, the men left.
The man inside the home looked out the window and, seeing the men in the alley, called police and told them he was being robbed. Chan, Chow, Ho, Jackson and Lam were arrested a block away.
At the end of June, Chow and Lam received 18-month sentences minus credit for 387 days of time served. That left just under six months to serve on the day of sentencing.
On Friday Chan, Ho and Jackson were sentenced.
Ho, 36, and Jackson, 24, also received 18-month sentences with different amounts of time credited. Chan, 33, because of his role in the plan, was given a two-year sentence minus credit for 424 days in pretrial custody.
In her sentencing decision, Justice Kathleen Ker called Chan the "operating mind" of the group.
All three men have extensive criminal records and were previously addicted to drugs.
Ker said the men wrote "thoughtful and heartfelt" letters to the court taking responsibility for their actions and offering genuine apologies.
"It seems lucky more than anything that more didn't happen," Ker said.
