N.B. man avoids jail for drug possession, trafficking in P.E.I.
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CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A New Brunswick man who travelled to P.E.I. steadily and met with native drug customers and sellers whereas beneath police surveillance will not be going to jail for possessing 1,000 methamphetamine capsules for trafficking functions.
Andrew John Davidson, 35, was convicted of the drug offence by Justice Terri MacPherson on Jan. 4 after a trial in P.E.I. Supreme Court docket.
Davidson represented himself on the Oct. 17-19 trial and at sentencing. The matter was prosecuted by Federal Crown attorneys Jacob Zelman and Gary Demeulenaere.
Underneath police surveillance
On the trial, Const. Mark Newcomb of the Charlottetown Police Companies’ Road Crime Unit testified that he first encountered Davidson driving a Mazda 3 with New Brunswick licence plates on July 20, 2020, whereas conducting surveillance on an area man. Over the next months, police adopted and noticed Davidson meet with a number of native folks in Charlottetown recognized for unlawful drug exercise. The conferences happened at residences on Brackley Level Street, Maloney Drive, Cumberland Road and Passmore Road, at an area lodge and motel and at Ole King Sq..
Accused arrested with 1,000 methamphetamine capsules
Then on Sept. 13, 2020, police tracked Davidson from Moncton, N.B., to a Charlottetown lodge. The next day on Sept. 14, 2020, police executed a CDSA (Managed Drug and Substances Act) search warrant for Davidson’s lodge room and seized 1,000 methamphetamine capsules, small plastic luggage, a pocket book and a ledger with numbers, places and folks’s initials, a big knife, a Taser, money, two digital scales, a blender with white powder inside, and different gadgets associated to unlawful drug exercise. The whole road worth of the methamphetamine was $2,000 to $4,000, or $2 to $4 per capsule.
Private use declare “unbelievable”
Davidson claimed at trial that the 1,000 methamphetamine capsules have been for private use and never for trafficking. He stated he would sometimes take 15-30 methamphetamine capsules a day. Nonetheless, MacPherson referred to as his argument “unbelievable” and famous that an RCMP drug skilled testified {that a} person would sometimes take three to 5 capsules a day and a binge person eight to 10 capsules over a 48-to-72-hour interval.
Offender requests home arrest
At a sentencing listening to on March 13, Davidson requested a conditional sentence, or home arrest, whereas Zelman requested 22-24 months in jail. Davidson turned solemn when MacPherson instructed him that his request was being rejected and he can be going to jail.
MacPherson stated she wasn’t involved about Davidson re-offending. Relatively, she defined that jail was warranted given the seriousness of drug offences and the injury they trigger to the neighborhood. The court docket wanted to ship a message to the neighborhood that partaking in that form of criminality will lead to “vital, life-altering penalties,” stated MacPherson.
Davidson’s dad and mom travelled from Ontario to attend their son’s sentencing listening to. Sentencing was adjourned for 2 weeks so Davidson might handle some issues previous to going to jail.
Decide denies, then imposes home arrest
When court docket reconvened on March 27, MacPherson took a distinct place and sentenced Davidson to 2 years much less a day (729 days) of home arrest. That conditional sentence was formally imposed on April 3.
MacPherson famous that in a pre-sentence report, Davidson says he is been sober for the reason that 2020 arrest. Davidson can also be employed on a farm and with a dogsledding enterprise in North Tetagouche, N.B. (close to Bathurst). MacPherson accepted Davidson’s fears that going to jail would undo the work he is accomplished, and continues to do, to show his life round.
Davidson didn’t have a previous prison document and was not held in custody whereas the matter proceeded in court docket.
Davidson requested the decide to elucidate the choice once more and “dumb it down” since he was anticipating to go to jail.
Home arrest
A situation of Davidson’s 729-day conditional sentence is that he’s prohibited from consuming alcohol or unlawful medicine. That situation can also be current in an extra 12 months of probation after his conditional sentence expires.
When requested to supply a civic handle for the home arrest sentence, Davidson stated there wasn’t one as a result of he lives in a trailer within the woods off-grid. As an alternative, Davidson offered the court docket with GPS co-ordinates to his residence about three kilometres from North Tetagouche, as discovered on Google Maps.
Terrence McEachern is a justice reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He may be reached by e mail at [email protected] and may be adopted on Twitter @terry_mcn.
