SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
Court File No. CR-15-1097-00
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
v.
LEE ANSELMO BLACKMAN
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
BEFORE THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE F. DAWSON
on September 28, 2015, at BRAMPTON, Ontario
APPEARANCES:
C. Letman,
Counsel for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada
F. Lyons,
Counsel for Lee Anselmo Blackman
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
R E A S O N S F O R S E N T E N C E
DAWSON, J.: (Orally)
Overview
All right, I am just going to give a few brief reasons here. The accused has entered a plea of guilty to importing 1.568 kilos of cocaine into Canada. I am told that cocaine has a street value of approximately $172,000.
I have conducted two judicial pre-trials in this matter. After the first pre-trial about a month ago the case was set for trial in April 2016. Consequently, while this guilty plea does not come at the earliest opportunity, it is still at a significantly early stage in the proceedings. In these circumstances the guilty plea stands as a true indication of remorse in my view.
Circumstances of the Offender
This is a first offence for the accused who has no criminal record. He is 39 years of age. He is a resident and a citizen of St. Martin. He has two children there, I am told, who he supports. He has been employed in various capacities that I have been advised about today and had been operating his own financial services company of some sort that was employing other people.
Sentencing Range and Gravity of Offence
The range of sentences for importation of cocaine, as I mentioned during the pre-trial discussions, is fairly firmly fixed by the relevant appellate authorities, and that range is 3 to 5 years for a kilogram more or less. For importation of multiple kilos that range heads up into the 5 to 8 year range and beyond.
Cocaine is not naturally available in Canada; it has to be imported. It is an insidious hard drug that leads a considerable number of people into dependency resulting in further criminal activity and, really, the ruination of many people and families.
In this case the Crown and defence have proposed sentences that are relatively close. It is not a joint submission but it comes very close to being such.
Sentence and Pre-Trial Custody
Having taken into account all of the relevant factors, and in particular that the quantity is just over 1.5 kilos, taking into account the guilty plea, the lack of criminal record and the absence of aggravating factors, I conclude an appropriate sentence to be about 3 years and 3 months, or 39 months before the deduction of time spent in custody.
Now having regard to the mathematics involved and the fact that this is not a precise science, I would fix the sentence at just under that amount because, as I mentioned during submissions, this is a circumstance in which I believe it is appropriate to give 1.5 days of credit for each day of pre-trial custody served. I am told the accused has been in custody 176 days for which I give 264 days credit, which is the maximum I can give according to law. There are no factors here which suggest that I should give lesser credit for time spent in pre-trial custody.
Ancillary Orders and Disposition
In the result the sentence will be 30 months. There will be a weapons prohibition order pursuant to section 109 of the Criminal Code. To the extent that order is discretionary it will be for a period of 10 years. There will be a DNA order that the accused provide samples of his DNA suitable for maintenance in the DNA Convicted Offenders’ Databank. That is a secondary designated offence but the accused takes no issue with the making of the order. Quite apart from that though, the importation or trafficking in cocaine is a criminal activity that is often organized, it is often associated with violence or firearms and so on, and there are adequate privacy protections in the legislation in my view, so that I think it is entirely appropriate that there be a DNA order even though it is a secondary designated offence. So I just add those reasons. I will just make an endorsement accordingly.
All right, so I have just made this endorsement on the indictment: the accused pleads guilty. A conviction is registered. An appropriate sentence before deduction for pre-trial custody would be just under 39 months. The accused has served 176 days in pre-trial custody for which I give credit of 264 days at a ratio of 1.5 to 1. In the result the sentence imposed today is 30 months. There will be a section 109 weapons prohibition order. To the extent that is discretionary it will be for 10 years. The accused will provide a sample of his DNA for inclusion in the databank.
...WHEREUPON THIS MATTER WAS CONCLUDED.
FORM 2
Certificate of Transcript
Evidence Act, Subsection 5(2)
I, Sherry McHady, certify that this document is a true and accurate transcription of the recording of R. v. Lee Anselmo Blackman, in the Superior Court of Justice, held at 7755 Hurontario Street, Brampton, Ontario, taken from Recording No. 3199_404_20150928_092018_30_DAWSONF, which has been certified in Form 1 by R. Easson.
October 19, 2015 Sherry Jane McHady
(Date) (Signature of authorized person)
This certification does not apply to the Reasons for Sentence since they were judicially edited.