A Prince George man was sentenced Wednesday to a further two years and one month in jail for possessing a mixture of deadly opioids as well as cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
In all, Keith Christopher Lundy, 43, was sentenced to five years less credit of two years 11 months for time in custody prior to sentencing.
Defence counsel had been seeking two years less a day plus a term of probation while Crown had argued for seven years, both less credit for time served.
The outcome, issued by provincial court judge Susan Mengering, stems from a Feb. 14, 2019 arrest.
After a surveillance of a stash house that Lundy had frequented, police stopped a vehicle downtown in which he was a passenger and arrested him on suspicion of trafficking.
In his waistband and pants pocket, police found 21.82 grams of heroin-fentanyl-carfentil and 20.8 grams of cocaine, all prepackaged in baggies for street level sales, along with $80 in $5 bills and keys to a locked safe in a home.
Further searches of two homes in the 5900 block of Montgomery Crescent and 4600 block of Freimuller Avenue uncovered another 28.38 grams of heroin-fentanyl-carfentil and 127.42 grams of cocaine, plus more packaging.
According to a pre-sentence report, Lundy grew up in a stable and supportive family in Ontario. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at eight years old for which he was prescribed Ritalin and developed a dependence on the pain-killer Demerol at 16 years old when he suffered an injury playing hockey. From there, he escalated to morphine, other pain medication and heroin.
But whether Lundy was using heroin at the time of his arrest was unclear. Mengering noted no paraphernalia associated with drug use was uncovered in the arrest and found Lundy was dealing for profit rather than to support an addiction alone.
Mengering named a handful of "grottos of misery" where Lundy admitted through his counsel during a sentencing hearing to dealing adding that he "frequently went on walkabouts in the downtown area, apparently drumming up business among the disenfranchised."
Lundy had gained release from custody to attend residential treatment centre but left after seven days because he did not like the conditions. In October 2019, he was arrested on firearms charges and has remained in custody on a detention order since mid-April 2020.
Since being back in custody, Lundy has taken steps to turn his life around. He's the rep in the "right-living unit" at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre, has taken courses on dealing with addictions and has expressed interest in "giving back to the community" by help others get off the streets and off drugs.
However, Lundy's lengthy criminal record, combined with the fact that he was found in possession of opioids well documented as sources of the ongoing overdose crisis in B.C. worked against him.
Lundy's criminal record dates back to age 19 and his offending has been "virtually uninterrupted" with more than 50 convictions, including two previous convictions for possession for the purpose of trafficking.
During the month Lundy was arrested, carfentenil was detected in 24 overdose deaths in B.C., Mengering noted.
"Despite Mr. Lundy's stated desire to remediate himself and live a pro-social life, the gravity of the offence and high degree of moral culpability coupled with the real and pressing need to denounce and deter this conduct in this community, a term of imprisonment of five years less time served must be imposed," Mengering concluded.
A sentencing hearing on the firearms charges is schedule for Monday in provincial court.
