A Prince George man has been sentenced to three years in prison for trafficking in kilogram amounts of cocaine.
Fabian Fraser Cuthbert, 50, was issued the term Thursday by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ron Tindale.
Crown counsel had been seeking six years while defence counsel argued for a conditional sentence order - effectively house arrest - lasting two years less a day.
Saying denunciation and deterrence were the primary factors in determining a fit sentence, Tindale concluded a conditional sentence order was not enough.
Conversely, he found that six years was excessive and that the low end of three to five years was appropriate. Two co-accused in the scheme - Ravneet Singh Basi of Kamloops and Tijinder Sidhu of Richmond - had also been sentenced to three years.
The outcome stems from a 14-month investigation centred largely on an apartment Cuthbert owned in Chilliwack. Police had gained enough evidence to "wire up" the home with covert audio and video recording devices and to intercept communications.
On June 11, 2016, the three were arrested.
On that day, Basi had picked up a kilogram from Sidhu and delivered it to the apartment, the court has heard. Shortly after driving away, he was arrested and during a subsequent search, RCMP found a black garbage bag containing $50,540 - the money Cuthbert allegedly paid for the cocaine - and another $1,500 in $20 bills on Basi - his share for making the delivery.
Crown submitted that Cuthbert had arranged for delivery of five kilograms of cocaine over a three-month period but Cuthbert's lawyer, Harold Alkema, noted there was no direct evidence that any of it was transported into Prince George. He maintained his client's role was only to stash the cocaine and for that he was paid just $3,000.
Cuthbert did not know why he agreed to participate in the scheme but at the time had started to use Oxycontin and had been drinking a lot as a way to deal with head injuries he had suffered in a motor vehicle accident and a boating accident, the court was told.
On the day of the arrest, police also executed a search warrant on Cuthbert's home in Prince George. No cocaine was found there, but they did seize $26,010 in cash and came across a press that could have been used to process the drug.
However, Cuthbert was operating a legitimate courier service and his wife held a licence to grow medical marijuana at the time. Tindale found it just as likely that the cash was related Cuthbert's business and the press to packaging the marijuana.
Tindale consequently ruled against forfeiting the cash to the Crown but did agree with a submission to forfeit as a proceed of crime half the value of Cuthbert's Chilliwack apartment which he had owned for 14 years and carries an assessed value of $110,604,
In finding against Crown's argument for a six-year sentence, Tindale noted in part Cuthbert's lack of a previous criminal record and good behaviour in the time since his arrest, several positive character references provided during a sentencing hearing and the so-called "Gladue factors" related to his Metis heritage and upbringing.
