The offender was convicted of multiple serious drug offences, including importing cocaine and exporting ecstasy, as well as firearms offences.
At sentencing, the defence argued that the offender's difficult youth in a crime-ridden neighbourhood as an African Canadian should mitigate his sentence, analogous to the Gladue principles for Aboriginal offenders.
The court rejected this argument, finding no evidentiary link between his early childhood and his commercial drug enterprise at age 40.
Applying the totality principle, the court imposed a global sentence of 15 years, reduced by 6 years for pre-trial custody.
