Two men arrested during a drug-related takedown in College Heights nearly two-and-a-half years ago were issued conditional sentences Thursday with one of them warned he came close to being forced to serve his term behind bars.
Joel James Pennell, 23, will serve a term two years less a day and Kaylan Stefan Rodney Olson, 25, 18 months, both in their respective homes, with each also to serve three years probation afterwards.
While he found that Olson had turned his life around since his arrest June 27, 2011 and so concluded it would be best for him to serve his term in the community, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Patrice Abrioux said Pennell's case was "more problematic."
It was found that Pennell had been dealing for about a year at the time he was apprehended and was attending the College of New Caledonia, where he was one course shy of completing a diploma in business.
While at CNC, Pennell fell in with some people involved in trafficking and due to a perceived lack of income began dealing himself, based out of an O'Grady Road home. Pennell was addicted to Valium and suffered a seizure due to withdrawal while in custody but also enjoyed a better lifestyle than a typical student, Abrioux said.
Abrioux found Pennell was significantly motivated by personal gain, was involved in mid-level drug trafficking of cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy, and was found with a sawed off shotgun when arrested, albeit unloaded at the time.
Pennell also claimed in a pre-sentence report that he was about to get rid of the weapon by throwing it in the river, a statement Abrioux found "convenient at best and untruthful at worst."
But he also noted Pennell has lived up to the conditions of his recognizance during the lengthy time the case has been before the courts, has solid support from his family, and now lives in the Okanagan where he has started up two new businesses with the help of a partner.
"I want you to be under no misapprehension as to how close you came to serving this sentence in custody," Abrioux told Pennell. "I can tell you I went back and forth on this a number of times in the last week."
In contrast to Pennell, Abrioux said Olson had a difficult upbringing as he went through physical and emotional abuse, never met his father, became addicted to alcohol and drugs at an early age and had only an elementary school education before leaving home in Fort St. James at age 15.
In January 2009, he was sentenced to a further 28 months in jail for directing the torture of a drug runner in the basement of a crack shack. After completing the term and serving his parole in Victoria, Olson made the "ill-advised" decision to return to Prince George where he fell back into his old ways and was arrested within about six weeks.
However, since being released from custody with stringent conditions, Olson has matured, Abrioux said, landing a job in Alberta as a welder and has "for the first time in his life" access to peers with a positive influence. He is also in a steady relationship with his common law wife and they're the parents of a young daughter.
Both Pennell and Olson expressed remorse for their actions and pleaded guilty to counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking following a lengthy voir dire to see if their charter rights had been violated at the time of their arrest. Pennell also pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon without a licence.
The two were arrested after undercover RCMP conducting surveillance of the parking lot at a College Heights shopping area came across some suspicious activity that led to a search warrant being executed on an O'Grady Road home.
On Olson, police found an ounce of cocaine and a half ounce of ecstasy and on Pennell, they found an ounce of cocaine, a two-thirds of an ounce of ecstasy and three ounces of methamphetamine in addition to the sawed off shotgun.
Both will serve their terms in their home communities.
