SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A NWT Supreme Court judge will decide later this month how long Rory Quentin Moore will spend behind bars for having and selling fentanyl pills two years ago.
Rory Quentin Moore appeared before Justice Louise Charbonneau in Yellowknife court on Tuesday morning for the start of sentencing. - NNSL file photo |
The 32-year-old man pleaded guilty to charges of possession of fentanyl pills, possession of fentanyl for trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime. He appeared before Justice Louise Charbonneau on Tuesday morning for the start of sentencing.
Crown prosecutor Annie Piche read an agreed statement of facts and called for the man to be imprisoned for up to 3.5 years. Moore should get 33 days credit for time spent in custody prior to sentencing, the prosecutor noted.
She described Moore as a "street level supplier" to drug dealer Dayl Eldon Hein. He pleaded guilty prior to Moore's appearance Tuesday to charges of possession of the purpose of trafficking cocaine, oxycodone and fentanyl dating to August 2014. Hein's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 13.
Defence lawyer Jay Bran said Moore has made efforts to turn his life around and should be imprisoned for no more than 2.5 years.
According to an agreed statement of facts, RCMP were called early June 1, 2014 about a possible impaired driver passed out in a vehicle. Police found Moore in the vehicle with two bottles of various pills. After testing, 18 pills were determined to contain fentanyl, a painkiller about 100 times more powerful than morphine and linked to a growing number of overdose deaths across Western Canada.
Yellowknife RCMP began an investigation into drug trafficking that on Aug. 7, 2014 saw an undercover officer contact Hein looking to purchase crack cocaine. After several purchases, an undercover officer asked Hein if he was selling "Oxy" and was told Hein could get some.
Hein texted an undercover officer Aug. 11 to say that "80s" had arrived. Fentanyl pills seized in the North have been marked with "80" and coloured green to look like OxyContin, a painkiller.
Hein said he needed to call "his guy" and then called Moore's cellphone twice. Police observed Hein purchase fentanyl from Moore. A fentanyl pill went for about $90.
Police later carried out a search warrant at Moore's apartment where 88 pills were found, 23 of which were determined to be fentanyl. Other items seized included cocaine, a digital scale and three cellphones. Moore had $1,000 of cash in his pocket during his arrest, including bills used by undercover officers to make purchases.
Bran said Moore had been dealing with addictions issues and the arrest caused him to try to change his life. He provided a set of medical records to the judge indicating Moore had entered the methadone program, which is used as a substitute to wean people off of illegal painkillers. Urine test results indicated only occasional marijuana use. Bran said the man had expressed remorse for his actions, pleaded guilty and has focused on his family, getting a job and staying off drugs since the arrest - positive developments put at risk by lengthy time behind bars.
"In a way it's going to knock himself back," Bran said.
Moore told the judge he wanted to put the drug dealing behind him.
"It's embarrassing and I'm ashamed. Because of these charges I've turned my life around," Moore said.
Piche cautioned the judge to be wary of his assertions.
"It may not be to the extent that he claims," she said.
The charge of possession carries a maximum sentence of seven years while the trafficking charge can result in life in prison.
The charges against Moore and Hein are some of the earliest involving distribution of fentanyl to come to court in the city.
The last major case involving fentanyl trafficking was of William Castro who was arrested in the spring of 2015 and saw police seize hundreds of pills.
Castro was sentenced in December by Charbonneau to five years in prison, a decision used by Piche to justify the amount of time she has sought for Moore.
A Yellowknifer series earlier this year examined how first responders and addictions treatment have adapted in the years since fentanyl began appearing on city streets. Ambulances only added an overdose reversing drug to their stocks this winter after a series of overdose calls in the fall of 2015.
The NWT coroner's office has reported 14.8 per cent of people who died from accidental narcotics overdoses between 2009 and 2014 had fentanyl in their system. Another fentanyl-related death was recorded in 2015.
