A man who was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail for possession for the purpose of trafficking has also lost his vehicle in the process.
When Marc Aaron James McMaster, 31, was arrested April 24, 2013, he was driving a 2007 Jeep Commander in which a total of 268 grams or 10 ounces of cocaine were found.
The quantity added up to a wholesale value of $7,500 and a street value of $25,000, according to a reasons from judgment from Prince George provincial court Judge Michael Brecknell issued this week.
RCMP had pulled McMaster's vehicle over after he was seen leaving a 2800-block Clapperton Street home owned by co-accused Ranjit Singh Sandhu.
Brecknell found the vehicle was "offence-related property" in that "McMaster was not somebody who was carrying drugs who chose to get into the Jeep, but rather a person who chose the Jeep to carry the cocaine."
McMaster also received a concurrent three-month term for possession of a prohibited weapon as a result of the brass knuckles also found in the vehicle. RCMP also uncovered two cell phones.
Crown prosecution had been seeking two to three years in a federal penitentiary on the trafficking charge with a concurrent lesser term for the brass knuckles while defence counsel argued for a suspended sentence with a lengthy period of probation or three to nine months in jail, followed by probation.
In reaching his decision, Brecknell took into account the fact that prior to his release on bail from Prince George Regional Correctional Centre following his arrest, McMaster was badly beaten, suffering broken bones and head trauma that led to two weeks in the infirmary.
Brecknell also recommended McMaster serve his sentence in protective custody if he asks for it.
On the same day McMaster was arrested, Sandhu, 41, and Lurdres De Medeiros Cabral, 40, were also arrested after they were seen leaving the home.
In turn, police said at the time of their arrests that they uncovered more than a kilogram of cocaine, amounting to 10,000 single doses, along with a substantial amount of cash and drug trafficking paraphernalia from the home.
An elderly couple who were also living in the home was not charged, and the Ministry of Children and Family Development was contacted after three children were located at the residence.
Sandhu and Cabral face disposition hearings in June.
