Gunned down earlier this year, prominent local organized crime figure Jason Alexander Hall was about to go on trial for selling $27,000 worth of marijuana to an undercover police officer, a sentencing hearing for an accomplice to the crime heard Tuesday.
Robert Lee Milligan, 33, has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a controlled substance for his role in the scheme that saw him help Hall procure a portion of about 10 pounds of pot.
The marijuana was sold in August 2012 to an undercover officer posing as a businessperson from Toronto interested in selling a clothing line owned by Hall.
The officer initially contacted Hall in March 2012, shortly after he had closed the doors on a failed downtown business, Wiseguys Clothing.
Unable to close the deal on the clothing line, Hall tried to maintain his association by agreeing to help with some illegitimate business transactions. They included providing cover or security for the officer as he purportedly met with the member of a different criminal organization at the Prince George Airport and selling a gram of cocaine to another undercover officer.
Discussions over securing the marijuana, which the officer said would be sold out east, began in July 2012 and Milligan entered the scene in the next month after Hall ran into trouble finding a source.
On Aug. 14, 2012, Milligan told the officer in a phone conversation that half the amount was secured and the remainder could be ready within the hour. Hall then told the officer the price would be $2,700 per pound.
The next day, the officer arrived in Prince George with a bag of money and the three drove to a home to pick up the marijuana. Milligan told the undercover officer he was wearing a bulletproof vest because he "wanted to be ready for anything," while Hall said he was carrying a firearm.
Milligan carried the money to the home and came out with two bags containing 20 half-pound bags of pot. Milligan was also carrying two side table lamps when he came out but why that was so was not explained to the court.
They returned to Hall's house where the bags were removed and placed in the officer's vehicle. A few days later, Hall was contacted and told mould had been found on some of the marijuana and, in turn, Milligan was put on the phone and he offered to provide an additional half pound at no cost.
Crown and defence counsels are at odds over how much Milligan should receive as a sentence.
Saying he played an "integral and central role," and was on probation at the time of the offence, Crown argued he should received 14 months in jail.
Contending Milligan's role was minor as he simply helped Hall complete the transaction, defence lawyer Connor Carleton argued a 12-to-18-month conditional sentence was more in order and noted the Baldy Hughes Treatment Centre has agreed to take Milligan in.
Hall was an ex-member of the Renegades Motorcycle Club but Carleton questioned his reputation as a "kingpin of crime in Prince George," noting the difficulty he had in procuring the marijuana.
If Provincial Court Judge Victor Galbraith decides on a jail term, Carleton said four to nine months is more appropriate.
Milligan also pleaded guilty to breach of probation and some related charges after he failed to report to his probation officer on March 2, prompting Prince George RCMP to issue a warning he was on the loose.
He was found about three weeks later in the backseat of a car RCMP had pulled over outside a drug house in the VLA. Milligan put up a fight with police and attempted to smash the back window of an RCMP cruiser with his head.
A BB gun was also uncovered in the back seat of the car Milligan was found in.
Crown and defence counsels have agreed to a joint submission of 120 days in jail on those counts.
Carleton said Milligan was fearing for his life after Hall was murdered on March 22 and was trying to lay low. Since he's been in custody, Milligan has been on administrative lockdown for 23 hours a day at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre due to concerns about his safety.
A decision on sentencing will be made at a later date.
