A Prince George man was sentenced to six more months in jail after pleading guilty Thursday to two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Sean Kenneth Broadley, 37, has been in custody since his Sept. 4, 2012 arrest when police pulled over the car he was driving in an alley between Quince and Victoria streets in the VLA neighbourhood.
Police found $1,260 in cash along with nearly 111 grams of methamphetamine, with a street value between $7,200 and $16,600, and slightly more than 12 grams of cocaine, worth $1,200, the court was told.
Broadley has an extensive criminal record dating back to 1996 but up until Thursday had not been convicted of a serious crime since November 2009. He turned back to his "old addiction pattern," the court was told, when he was laid off from his job and, because of the financial stress, turned to transporting drugs and money to make ends meet, the court was told.
Defence counsel had argued Broadley should receive only 125 more days in jail because delays in receiving disclosure of the particulars from the Crown delayed his decision to plead guilty. However, Crown prosecution noted that in return, it had reverted to its old position of one year less time in already spent in custody in exchange for no longer taking the case to trial.
The matter was further complicated by a requirement that to get the break under a section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that provides one-and-a-half days credit for each day of time served in pre-sentence custody, a formal notice would be required.
Provincial Court Judge Darrell O'Byrne agreed that there are ways to get around the requirement but decided against taking the route and limited Broadley to straight one-for-one credit for time spent in custody.
O'Byrne also called Broadley's record "abysmal" and warned that he would be subject to a much longer sentence if he's convicted again.
Aided by evidence obtained during Broadley's arrest, police executed search warrants later the same day for homes in the 1400 block of Nation Crescent and 2600 block of Norwood Street where more illicit drugs and trafficking paraphernalia were seized.
Five more people were also arrested but police were unable to convince Crown to approve charges, Prince George RCMP Cst. Craig Douglass said Thursday. Simply being in the house at the time of a police raid is not enough to be charged, Douglass said. Care and control of the drugs must also be shown.
In February, Broadley was fined $500 and prohibited from driving for one year for driving while prohibited under the Motor Vehicle Act in relation to the traffic stop.
