A Quesnel man was sentenced Thursday to 2 1/2 years in prison for selling illicit party drugs through a website.
Travis James Gaudette, 32, had pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing butylone and methylone for the purpose of trafficking. The so-called "designer drugs" provide effects similar to MDMA and ecstacy.
Gaudette was arrested in June 2013 after Canada Border Services Agency intercepted a package containing 500 grams of butylone, sent from Nanjing, China, to Gaudette's home. Gaudette was also caught mailing packages to an undercover officer and a woman in Regina.
In all, RCMP intercepted and seized just over a kilogram of drugs worth an estimated $100,000 to $150,000 once sold. Gaudette's website was subsequently shut down.
Gaudette has maintained he was unaware he was breaking the law but also admitted he knew he was "walking into a gray area legally" and failed to contact the RCMP for guidance.
Crown counsel had been seeking three years in prison while defence argued a three years probation with a suspended sentence was apt.
