A Provincial Court judge sentenced a Prince George woman on Wednesday, Jan. 8 to two years less a day, to be served in the community, for possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking.
Under Judge David Simpkin’s conditional sentence order, Robin Taralee Leveille, 33, will spend 10 months in house arrest, with limited allowance to leave her residence, then another 10 months on an 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. curfew.
Leveille was charged in September 2023, almost two years after her arrest with co-accused Sebastian Gordon Goudreau, 36. Goudreau, her former boyfriend, is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 11, according to the online court database.
Court heard that Prince George RCMP had Goudreau and Leveille under surveillance for nearly two months when they spotted Leveille’s black Chevy pickup truck at a gas station on Nov. 4, 2021. They arrested Goudreau inside the gas station and Leveille in the passenger seat of the pickup.
Leveille was wearing a fanny pack that contained somebody else’s identification and $340 in cash. Police seized a black backpack from the centre rear passenger area of the pickup. Inside the backpack was a small, hard-shelled case containing 133.4 grams of methamphetamine and 34.32 grams of fentanyl. A further 1.5 grams of fentanyl in a vial was found on Leveille in the police cells.
Federal Crown prosecutor Amritpal Gill said the RCMP began the investigation on Sept. 8, 2021 “based on jail phone calls with his recently incarcerated boss, during which they discussed Mr. Goudreau taking over the business.”
Gill detailed milestones in the surveillance operation, which included street crew officers witnessing Leveille transporting Goudreau to various locations, moving bags inside and outside buildings, and meeting with drug traffickers known to police.
Gill said Abbotsford Police stopped the pair in Leveille’s pickup truck on Sept. 20, 2021.
“They could not advise the police why they were in the Lower Mainland at that time, and the police believed that they had travelled south to obtain a supply of drugs to bring back to Prince George.”
Three days later, Gill said police obtained a warrant to seek data from Leveille’s truck. Among other things, it showed that, on Oct. 27, the pickup stopped at the tent city homeless camp.
Gill said Leveille “was involved with the wrong person and was involved, for the most part, trying to support her own addiction issue. Crown submits that the co-accused in this matter was the bigger fish of the operation.”
After double-checking the quantity, Simpkin remarked: “That’s a lot of fentanyl, and we all know how dangerous that drug is here in British Columbia.
“But the mitigating factors here far outweigh the aggravating factors.”
Simpkin noted Leveille’s guilty plea, entered last July, the state of instability and homelessness throughout her life and her desire to change her lifestyle.
Simpkin cited a pre-sentence report that showed Leveille’s Indigenous mother and Metis father’s substance abuse affected her to the point that she began drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana at age 13.
Leveille eventually became addicted to opiates. Simpkin said she uses drugs to treat her depression, but it worsens her depression.
Simpkin said Leveille must obey the law, remain in B.C, except with prior written permission of her sentence supervisor, and undergo a treatment program.
“What's important here is that you focus on your health and well-being, and a healthy Ms. Leveille won't be back in court, I would imagine,” Simpkin told her. “So let's focus on that.”
