"It's a nation-wide epidemic."
Honourable Judge Kathleen Williams told Brandon Micheal Gibson, a man who has been charged with possessing over 100 fentanyl pills, that he is facing more than just the conditional sentence order the he and federal Crown agreed to.
Gibson was at the Bonnyville Provincial Courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 4, for sentencing after pleading guilty on June 14 to possession of the drug and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
Federal Crown prosecutor Jana Fleming said the Crown was seeking a four-month conditional sentence order for the May 6, 2017 incident.
It was around 5 p.m. when Bonnyville RCMP received a 911 call about a possible impaired driver on Hwy. 28.
When officers located the vehicle, they noticed it was swerving on the road, and conducted a traffic stop. Based on observations, police thought Gibson was impaired.
During a search of the vehicle, RCMP found 104 green pills, which were sent away for analyzing.
Tests confirmed the drugs contained fentanyl.
Following his arrest, Gibson told police he was an addict, and that the drugs were for his own personal use.
The Crown reached out to a specialist as part of the pre-sentence report completed following Gibson's guilty plea.
Fleming said the specialist couldn't eliminate the possibility that the drugs were for personal consumption.
Gibson has two prior possession for the purpose of trafficking convictions.
According to Gibson, the charges are in relation to trafficking marijuana.
The Crown had minimal case-law to compare for sentencing. Fleming referred to a case out of Ontario where the accused was sentenced to four months in custody for possessing 30 fentanyl patches.
She described the amount of pills, and where some of them were found, as aggravating factors.
While most of the fentanyl pills were in containers, two were found behind the driver's seat. Fleming said a nine-year-old boy is in Gibson's care, a fact that was concerning for the Crown, because the child could have accessed the pills.
If Williams agreed to a conditional sentence order, Gibson would be required to remain in his house 24 hours a day, unless attending treatment, counselling, work, or school. He would have four hours each week to obtain the necessities of life.
However, Williams refused to agree to the Crown's recommended sentence.
She described fentanyl as a national "epidemic."
"I don't understand how you're not asking me for more serious time in custody."
Williams continued, "This isn't a first offence. This is an individual with two prior possession for the purpose of trafficking convictions."
Gibson claimed he doesn't remember much of the incident, after a mugging just months prior left him with short-term memory loss.
"I was left for dead on the side of the road," he described.
Williams questioned why there wasn't paperwork confirming the cause of his head injury, referencing the hospital documentation she had already, which stated Gibson's head injury was caused by a workplace fall, not a mugging like he claimed.
Williams decided to give him until Sept. 18 to gather the proper documentation he needs to prove he is seeking treatment for drug abuse, has proper employment, and suffered from a severe head injury.
