A Prince George man has been sentenced to three years in jail for trafficking cocaine, after entering a guilty plea.
From January 2020 to February 2021, Derek Charles Macnicol Timmins, 51, sold 39 ounces of cocaine, 10 pounds of marijuana, and 4.8 grams of MDMA to an undercover agent with the BC Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, court heard.
Conversations between the agent and Timmins were recorded over the course of the unit's investigation, detailing the extent of a drug trafficking operation and how it avoided police detection. A valid marijuana grow licence was used to produce cannabis, which was then illegally distributed.
Search warrants were executed on a property on Latrobe Crescent in Prince George and in Vanderhoof, where a number of items were seized, including a scale, cellphones, garbage bags of pre-packaged cannabis, and large amounts of cash. Timmins is not Indigenous, noted Justice Kimberley Arthur-Leung in the ruling.
According to the ruling, defence counsel submitted that Timmins was remorseful for his actions, and noted that Timmins suffers from several health issues, including diabetes, ulcers on his feet, high blood pressure, and arthritis, all of which require regular medication treatment.
Timmins' parents had also recently passed away and Timmins turned to personal use of illicit substances, his defence counsel told court.
However, the judge noted that Timmins should have been aware of the large number of drug overdoses in BC and the public health emergency declared by the province, noting the large-scale drug operation went far beyond personal consumption.
"Not only have those who have died and overdosed become statistics of this province, there is also the toll these actions take upon family members and what is often forgotten and understated is the huge physical, emotional, and financial toll upon first-responders such as drug crisis workers, firefighters, police, EHS, nurses, and doctors in this province seeing and responding to such horrific tragedies day in and day out," wrote Arthur-Leung.
"His actions had a huge impact upon the persons in the community of Prince George and this province," she added.
Timmins was also given a mandatory lifetime firearms ban, ordered to provide a DNA sample, and assessed a $200 victim surcharge with 12 months to pay.
