Nate Spear-Balka

Giuseppe Fazzina, a chronic recidivist with 74 prior convictions, including numerous impaired driving and driving while prohibited offences, pleaded guilty to two counts of driving with excessive blood alcohol, five counts of driving while prohibited, and four counts of failing to comply with an undertaking, stemming from five separate incidents between 2020 and 2023.

The court considered aggravating factors such as his extensive and related criminal record, being on parole, high impairment levels, and dangerous driving, and mitigating factors including guilty pleas and harsh pre-sentence custody conditions.

The judge emphasized deterrence, denunciation, and separation from society as dominant objectives, finding rehabilitation not a significant factor.

A total sentence of 10 years imprisonment was imposed, less credit for time served, along with lifetime and 10-year driving prohibitions and a DNA order.

Following a jury trial, the offender was convicted of human trafficking, receiving a benefit from sexual services and human trafficking, assault, and cocaine trafficking, all involving his wife.

The Crown sought a 12-year global sentence, while the Defence proposed 42 months.

The court applied the principles of sentencing, including the Tang/Miller factors, and considered aggravating factors such as abuse of an intimate partner, breach of trust, using drugs to maintain exploitation, and the devastating impact on the victim.

Mitigating factors included a challenging personal background and potential for rehabilitation.

The court imposed a global sentence of 9 years, with sentences for the related offences running concurrently, and applied 6 months of credit for pre-sentence house arrest, resulting in a net sentence of 8.5 years imprisonment.

Ancillary orders for DNA, weapons prohibition, communication ban, and forfeiture were also made.