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Pain from cancer caused drug dealer to self medicate, court told

A man who was arrested twice over a three and 1/2 month span for dealing drugs out of his home was self-medicating for undiagnosed cancer at the time of his arrests, the court heard Wednesday.
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A man who was arrested twice over a three and 1/2 month span for dealing drugs out of his home was self-medicating for undiagnosed cancer at the time of his arrests, the court heard Wednesday.

Crown counsel is seeking five years in prison for Harjinder John Singh Berar, 48, while defence counsel argued for 21 months during a sentencing hearing at the Prince George courthouse.

Berar was first arrested Nov. 6, 2012 when the RCMP executed a search warrant on his 1100-block Chilako Ave. home and uncovered 11.4 grams of methamphetamine and 3.5 grams of rock cocaine along with $799 in cash.

Berar was released on a promise to appear and, on Feb. 22, 2013, he was arrested again at the same house. This time, RCMP found 10.39 grams of powder cocaine, 12.39 grams of rock cocaine and 12.39 grams of methamphetamine.

An estimated street value was provided for the drugs seized during the second takedown. In all, they added up to as much as $3,724.

And hidden behind a panel above a door, they found a .22-calibre handgun in which a magazine holding 10 rounds was inserted, twice the five-round limit allowed in Canada.

Berar pleaded guilty to four counts of trafficking and one count of possession of a prohibited weapon from the arrests.

A portrait of a man with a long-running history of addiction was painted during the hearing.

His first major trouble erupted after he suffered a work-related back injury in 1999 that led to a degnerative bone disease and an addiction to morphine.

By 2003, Berar had weaned himself off the substance in 2003, he relapsed two years later and an ongoing struggle with addiction emerged.

It's also not the first time Berar has dealt with the court.

In October 2010, he was sentenced to 56 days in jail for possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking in connection with an August 2010 raid on his home.

A year later, he was sentenced to one year in jail for a July 2011 incident that began when a Prince George RCMP member found him asleep in a running vehicle in the 200 block of Cherry Ave.

A significant amount of cash and cocaine was found in the vehicle and methamphetamine was found on Berar's person. He was arrested and a subsequent search of his home led to a further seizure of a quantity of cocaine, drug trafficking materials and a stolen television

Berar's record also includes a conviction for unlawful confinement for which he received an 18-month jail term offset by one year credit for time served prior to sentencing.

That stemmed from a March 2008 incident in which a young woman in trouble over of a slip-up in a drug deal escaped from a 2200 Victoria Street home and ran to the safety of a nearby vehicle that turned out to be an unmarked police car.

Odessa Nicki Marchand was also found guilty of unlawful confinement and received the same sentence as Berar on that charge as well as six months for assault for pulling the woman's hair.

Berar also continues to face trafficking charges from an October 2015 arrest.

In May 2012, Berar first noticed a small lump in one of his testicles but for reasons not made clear, did not get treatment. By that time of his second arrest, the tumour had grown to the size of a baseball, the court heard, and was removed.

Berar had been consuming cocaine to ease the pain and selling the drugs to cover the cost of his addiction, the court was told.

Berar was released on bail to get treatment for cancer but was subsequently arrested three times for allegedly breaching his recognizance. But the court heard Berar has not consumed any street drugs since his second arrest.

He now has cancer in his lower back, and the metal plate was removed so he can get treatment in that area, and in his lymph nodes. But Berar told the court his odds of survival have improved to 50 per cent from 30 per cent.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice James Williams will issue his decision on sentencing on Thursday morning.