Trafficker handed 34-month jail term
Sentencing hearing told Jennifer Montgomery dealt cocaine, methamphetamine and a heroin-fentanyl mixture
Much more than cards were being dealt at Penticton’s old casino, a judge heard Monday in B.C. Supreme Court.
For a period in 2016, the former Lake City Casino at the Penticton Lakeside Resort was also the base of operations for convicted drug dealer Jennifer Montgomery, whose sentencing hearing was told she trafficked cocaine, methamphetamine and a heroin-fentanyl mixture at the gaming facility.
Montgomery, 32, was convicted following trial earlier this year of one count of possessing meth for the purpose of trafficking, plus single counts of possessing cocaine and heroin-fentanyl, all from March 2016.
She pleaded guilty Monday to three more offences: possessing meth, cocaine and heroin-fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, all in September 2016.
In total, Montgomery was sentenced to 34 months in jail, although with credit for time served she has just 24 1/2 months remaining on her term.
Crown counsel Clarke Burnett suggested a total sentence in the range of 38 months, noting the danger of fentanyl as an aggravating factor, while defence counsel Michael Patterson countered with 18 months.
Patterson asked for leniency because his client’s mother died of an overdose while Montgomery was in jail, and because Montgomery is currently pregnant with her fourth child.
Montgomery’s trial heard how police raided her home in the Cascade Gardens townhouse complex on Penticton Avenue in March 2016 and found the drugs in a safe in her bedroom.
Seized during the raid was a total of six grams of meth, and “smaller amounts” of cocaine and heroin-fentanyl, Burnett reminded the judge Monday.
Despite the relatively small quantity of drugs found, continued Burnett, “It was clear from the investigation as a whole that Ms. Montgomery was involved in drug trafficking activities at a higher level than that amount.”
While on bail for those offences, she found herself on the radar of Lake City Casino security staff, who watched her engage in behaviour “consistent with that of drug trafficking or ‘cleaning,’ as they describe it, illegitimate money,” Burnett said.
Montgomery was observed over the course of a week frequently leaving the gaming floor to conduct exchanges on a patio and in the hotel’s parkade. She was also seen handing packages to people who placed money into the slot machine at which she was seated.
Casino staff eventually called police, who watched via surveillance cameras as Montgomery made several more transactions. One of her buyers was then pulled over a short distance away and found to have a small amount of heroin-fentanyl, prompting police to finally arrest Montgomery.
A search of her purse turned up seven grams of cocaine, 3.6 grams of meth, and 5.6 grams of heroin and heroin-fentanyl, along with $842 in cash and a scoresheet.
Burnett entered as an exhibit a report from the BC Coroners Service outlining the number of deaths attributed to fentanyl since 2015.
“I hope this sentence will serve notice not just to you, Ms. Montgomery, but to all those who traffic in fentanyl: We can’t have this in society,” Justice Gary Weatherill said in reasons for his sentence.
“When you were drug trafficking, it was widely known that fentanyl was causing countless deaths. There must be serious consequences. The public expects it and is entitled to no less. We need to eliminate this scourge.”