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A judge found a Prince George man guilty Friday, Dec. 20 in Provincial Court of two counts of possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking.
Prince George RCMP arrested and seized drugs from Cody Allen Stovin, 40, before 11 p.m. on April 12, 2022, while he was under surveillance. He had just left an apartment building near Parkwood Place. Later, police obtained a search warrant and seized a further quantity of drugs on April 13, 2022 from a safe inside a suite.
Judge Cassandra Malfair said when police arrested Stovin, they found keys, more than $2,100 in cash, a digital scale in a backpack and a cellophane bag containing five smaller cellophane bags, hidden in his underwear beside his inner left thigh.
“Three of the smaller cellophane bags contained a 69.95 gram mixture of fentanyl and caffeine, a 5.95 gram mixture of fentanyl benzodiazepine, caffeine and diphenhydramine and 1.57 gram mixture of fentanyl and caffeine,” Malfair said.
Stovin “does not really contest his possession and control of drugs” found at the time of his arrest, the judge said.
When police entered the apartment unit after 4 a.m., they found a bag containing 830.15 grams of caffeine on top of a black safe. Officers forced their way into the safe and discovered cellophane bags containing the following: 462.86 grams of a mixture of fentanyl and caffeine; 179.63 grams of fentanyl; 71.09 grams of a mixture of fentanyl and caffeine; 16.87 grams of a mixture of fentanyl lidocaine and diphenhydramine; 14.56 grams of a mixture of fentanyl and caffeine; and 6.44 grams of fentanyl.
“The affixation of the safe and contents of the room suggest this was a space dedicated solely to storing a drug supply, as opposed to being a typical living space used by the occupants of a home for everyday purposes,” Malfair said.
Malfair was satisfied that Stovin had a key to both the apartment and padlocked room so that he could access the safe. While she could not determine if the drugs he possessed on his person and those found in the safe were from the same supply, there was a similarity of the type of drug and similarity of the purpose for which the drugs were being possessed, thus connecting Stovin to both supplies. Malfair also said the quantities of fentanyl were consistent with possession for the purpose of trafficking.
“From that evidence, I infer Mr. Stovin was accessing the larger drug supply from the safe to supply smaller amounts he carried on his person, for the purpose of trafficking,” the judge said.
Ultimately, Malfair was satisfied, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Crown had proven Stovin’s guilt on both charges.
Stovin had also been charged with possessing cocaine and methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, but Malfair ruled he was not guilty because the Crown did not provide evidence at trial. Crown also stayed a firearms possession charge.
Stovin’s lawyer is seeking a hearing date to apply for a stay of proceedings based on the age of the case. A 2016 Supreme Court of Canada ruling on unreasonable trial delays set 18 months as the “presumptive ceiling” for cases tried in provincial court. Delays attributable to or waived by the defence do not count.
