Man gets one day for drug trafficking

Crown was missing key piece of evidence

A sentencing recommendation that was initially rejected in February for a Sydney man who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking was the exact same sentence imposed Friday.

Robert Francis Bennett, 51, was sentenced on charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine, possession, possession of stolen property (two iPads), breaching a court order and possession of hydromorphone. The offences occurred in 2017 in Sydney.

Provincial Crown Mark Gouthro, federal Crown Wayne MacMillan and defence lawyer Peter Mancini offered a sentence recommendation of oneday in jail served by Bennett’s presence in court.

He was credited with 12 months served on remand.

It was also recommended that Bennett be subject to a 10year firearm ban and forfeiture of nearly $2,000 in seized cash, along with a cellphone. There was also a restitution claim for the iPads for $989.

The benchmark sentence for cocaine trafficking in Nova Scotia is a two-year federal sentence. Bennett has a related criminal record on drug trafficking charges.

At a sentencing hearing Feb. 2, provincial court Judge Ann Marie MacInnes rejected the recommendation of one-day in jail describing it as “woefully inadequate.”

She adjourned the hearing for two months and requested briefs from Crown and defence lawyers on why such a sentence would not bring the justice system into disrepute or diminish public confidence in the system.

Only Mancini filed a brief in which he explained that at the time of Bennett’s preliminary hearing on the charge, the Crown was missing a key piece of evidence — a certificate of analysis that would prove the drug seized was indeed cocaine.

But as Mancini explained, his client’s admission that the drug was cocaine was a significant concession from the defence that bolstered the Crown’s case despite the absence of the certificate.

“I now understand that this brings the sentence within the range,” said the judge.

“This could have all been avoided had the court been told of this on Feb. 2,” said MacInnes, adding it was regrettable that the hearing was adjourned.

While accepting the sentence, MacInnes rejected a 10year firearm ban and imposed a lifetime ban.

She also rejected the call for restitution, noting there was no evidence before her that Bennett had damaged the iPads.

Bennett was also ordered to forfeiture nearly $2,000 seized at the time of his arrest along with a cellphone.

When questioned in February about the recommendation, MacMillian told the court Bennett was trafficking only a small amount of cocaine when arrested — five grams.

Mancini said his client is already losing the seized cash and cellphone, and as a result of his remand incarceration, he lost his home and its furnishings.