Douglas Culver

Mark John Ryn was found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to import fentanyl and possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking.

The court considered aggravating factors, including the dangerous nature of fentanyl, the duration of the trafficking enterprise, and the offender's profit motive and manipulation of a vulnerable co-accused.

Mitigating factors included his youth at the time of the offence and lack of a prior criminal record.

The court rejected the defence's request for a conditional sentence, emphasizing the need for general deterrence and denunciation in fentanyl cases and distinguishing Ryn's circumstances from his co-accused due to her guilty plea, cooperation, and victim status.

Ryn was sentenced to a concurrent term of four years imprisonment for each count.

In a criminal sentencing decision following trial convictions under ss. 5(2) and 7(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the court addressed large-scale production and possession for the purpose of trafficking in MDMA, methamphetamine, and ketamine from a clandestine laboratory.

The evidence established a high-capacity operation with significant public-safety and health risks, including deceptive marketing of tablets containing highly addictive methamphetamine.

The court treated denunciation and general deterrence as paramount, relying on comparator jurisprudence and the seriousness of domestic synthetic-drug production.

Applying aggravating and mitigating factors individually, the court imposed lengthy penitentiary terms on all three offenders, with concurrent sentences on each count and ancillary DNA and firearms-prohibition orders.