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The lawyer for a Prince George man found guilty of 2019 drugs and guns charges told a BC Supreme Court judge on May 27 that his client should be sentenced to “at or near two years,” possibly served outside of jail.
“It is something that can be considered for a conditional sentence order,” Jason LeBlond told Justice Sandra Wilkinson.
In March 2024, Wilkinson found Scott William Loutit, 40, guilty of storing firearms carelessly, possessing a loaded restricted firearm and possessing cannabis for the purpose of selling it.
Five years earlier, Prince George RCMP found $280,000 to $360,000 worth of marijuana at Loutit’s residence, $500,000 in bundled cash and four shotguns, a semi-automatic rifle, a pistol and revolver.
Before the 2024 verdict, Loutit applied to stay the charges on the basis that his right to a trial within a reasonable time had been breached. In an Aug. 30 ruling, however, Wilkinson determined Loutit’s case had been delayed by 25 months and 23 days. The presumptive ceiling for a BC Supreme Court case is 30 months, as set by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2016.
LeBlond quoted from pre-sentencing reports, including one about the impact of Loutit’s Indigenous heritage. He said Loutit lost 70 pounds last year and has been depressed and anxious since his March 2019 arrest. Though not diagnosed with a mental illness, Loutit spends much of his time alone and cannot start a relationship.
While Loutit was found to have controlled or directed the marijuana distribution operation, LeBlond said “there were other people going to and from the residence which may have been involved, and Mr. Loutit may have been working in concert with them, or aiding them, or abetting them by allowing storage of material and distribution from his home.”
Loutit did not possess a weapon in a public place, but LeBlond conceded “it was possessed by Mr. Loutit in the context of a large scale cannabis trafficking operation, and that it was stored extremely carelessly in a residence with two young children.”
In a separate case, the Director of Civil Forfeiture filed a notice in the Victoria registry last December against Loutit, claiming the sport utility vehicle and cash that RCMP seized from him last summer should be surrendered to the province because they are the proceeds of crime.
The civil forfeiture filing came almost a month after Loutit filed a Notice of Dispute to Administrative Forfeiture Proceedings in an effort to have the items returned.
The director wants Loutit’s 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited and $8,490 in cash found in Loutit’s possession on Aug. 9, 2024. The director alleged Loutit obtained the money and vehicle through unlawful activity, used them for more unlawful activity and would continue to do so if he were to regain the money and vehicle.
The civil forfeiture filing said police searched the vehicle and found 211.89 grams of methamphetamine in a large plastic bag in the middle console, another $5,425 in Canadian cash and drug paraphernalia, including a digital scale with suspected drug residue. Loutit had $3,065 in Canadian currency sticking out of his pocket.
In his January response, Loutit denied the allegations and claimed the income was earned through legitimate means with various trucking and delivery businesses. He also said he drove the Jeep lawfully and denied there was any drug paraphernalia in the vehicle. A hearing is yet to be scheduled.
