A man caught in a RCMP sting targeting a now-dead figure in the city's organized crime scene was sentenced Friday to a further year in jail and 18 months probation for helping to sell marijuana to an undercover police officer.
The operation's focus was on Jason Alexander Hall but Robert Lee Milligan, 33, has a reputation of his own, which didn't help his bid to receive a conditional sentence that would have been served at home rather than behind bars.
In deciding in favour of a jail term, Prince George provincial court judge Victor Galbraith noted Milligan's past history of carrying weapons and being considered a danger to the community, as well as breaching the terms of previous conditional sentences.
Galbraith found he "just didn't have the confidence" Milligan's behaviour would be any better this time.
Galbraith also disagreed with the argument that Milligan played a minor role in the transaction.
Milligan and Hall were arrested in August 2012 about six months after Hall was contacted by an undercover officer posing as a businessperson from Toronto interested in selling a clothing line owned by Hall.
Hall, a former member of the Renegades Motorcyle Club, had opened a business downtown, Wiseguys Clothing, but by the time the sting was launched, Hall had closed its doors.
Unable to close the deal on the clothing line, he eventually agreed to a proposal to procure some marijuana, which the undercover officer said would be sold out east. But Hall had trouble finding a source and, about a week before the deal went down, he called on Milligan to help him out.
In all, Milligan gathered 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of pot in exchange for $27,000.
Galbraith made particular note of a complaint from the purchaser that some of the marijuana was mouldy. In response, Milligan agreed to throw in an extra half-pound at no cost to make amends.
"That to me suggests he was more heavily involved in the transaction than simply acting as a courier," Galbraith said.
A 25-day trial on the matter had been scheduled for Supreme Court this month but Hall, 45, was gunned down in March near the corner of Fifth Avenue and Gillett Street. Milligan subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a controlled substance.
Also on Friday, Milligan was sentenced to time served on charges related to failing to report to his probation officer in March and his arrest three weeks later.
Milligan's sentence also came with a suggestion to B.C. Corrections that he serve his time in a facility that provides long-term treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.
