E. Skowron

The accused pleaded guilty to trafficking restricted and prohibited firearms, possessing proceeds of crime over $5,000, and trafficking fentanyl.

The sentencing judge imposed a global sentence of 11 years, reduced by 2.5 years for prolonged and unacceptable pre-trial custody conditions including extensive lockdowns and triple bunking, and further reduced by Summers credit of 3.6 years for 874 non-lockdown days of pre-trial custody.

Mitigating factors included no prior criminal record, relative youth, genuine remorse, strong rehabilitative potential, and systemic disadvantage as a Black man raised in poverty with significant personal losses.

Aggravating factors included the deadly combination of fentanyl and firearms trafficking repeated over several months for profit, and the theft of police buy money.

The court also considered the collateral consequence of likely deportation and its impact on rehabilitation and family separation.

The remaining sentence to be served is 1,791 days (approximately 4.9 years).

The applicant was arrested for drug trafficking, and a subsequent search of his residence yielded a firearm.

He brought a Charter application to exclude evidence, alleging breaches of his s. 10(a) and 10(b) rights due to a delay in facilitating contact with counsel and a failure to inform him of the firearms charges.

The court found that the police breached both s. 10(a) and s. 10(b) of the Charter.

However, applying the Grant framework under s. 24(2), the court concluded that the evidence should not be excluded, as the breaches had a minimal impact on the applicant's Charter-protected interests and society's interest in adjudicating the serious charges on their merits strongly favoured inclusion.