The Crown appealed a conditional discharge imposed on the respondent, an employee at an illegal psilocybin storefront, who pleaded guilty to possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime.
Police seized over 126 kg of psilocybin.
The Superior Court of Justice found the sentencing judge erred in principle by suggesting the respondent might not have known the enterprise was illegal, which contradicted the essence of his guilty pleas.
The appeal court also found the conditional discharge demonstrably unfit given the large quantity of drugs and the need for denunciation and deterrence.
The appeal was allowed and the sentence varied to a suspended sentence.
