A man currently facing drug-related criminal charges in Prince George is now also getting heat from B.C.'s civil forfeiture office.
In a notice of civil claim filed Wednesday in Victoria, the office's director is seeking forfeiture of a 2019 Subaru WRX owned by Andrew James Schooley, alleging it was being used to run a dial-a-dope drug trafficking operation in Prince George.
The claim says that on Dec. 22, 2022, RCMP seized the vehicle after a search uncovered 210.03 grams of fentanyl, 97.43 grams of cocaine, 99.59 grams of methamphetamine, 509 hydromorphone pills , seven oxycodone pills, a loaded .45-calibre handgun with a barrel longer than 105 millimetres, a stun gun with a length of less than 480 millimetres, $5,430 in cash, two cellphones and a digital weigh scale.
RCMP subsequently executed a search warrant on a home connected to Schooley and found 92.28 grams of fentanyl, 35.76 grams of cocaine, 38.51 grams of methamphetamine, 920 hydromorphone pills, 85 dextroamphetamine pills, $4,000 in cash, $16,000 in pre-paid credit cards, drug packaging and processing materials and two weigh scales, the claim says.
Both the gun and the stun gun are considered prohibited weapons, according to the claim.
Schooley has a criminal record, the claim adds, with convictions for possessing a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking, possessing a firearm contrary to an order, mischief over $5,000, assault and intimidation of a justice system participant.
A search of court records verify the claims.
In October 2019, Schooley, who also goes by James Andrew Schooley, was sentenced to 297 days in jail for four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and, in July 2014, to four months in jail for three counts of the same charge.
Court records indicate Schooley had not been charged in relation to the matter set out in the civil forfeiture claim. Charge approval on drug-related counts typically take about a year from the date of arrest.
However, Schooley faces three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking from an alleged August 2020 incident in Prince George. A trial in B.C. Supreme Court on that matter is set to begin at the end of October.
And he faces a further three counts of the same charge from an alleged May 2022 incident. That matter remains before provincial court.
For a conviction in a criminal matter, Crown must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. In contrast. civil forfeitures are considered civil matters, and so the threshold is a less-stringent balance of probabilities.
None of the allegations raised in any of the matters have been tested in court and Schooley has not yet filed a response to the director's notice of claim.
