Pair sentenced after meth, fentanyl seized in home search

A Regina judge remarked on the state of the city’s drug and gun problem, including the dangers posed by fentanyl, as she handed down four-year prison terms to two would-be drug traffickers on Monday.

Judge Leslie Halliday noted a “very disturbing escalation of firearms and drug matters that seems to be occurring ” in the city as she sentenced 38-year-old Norman Joseph Campbell Douglas and 28-year-old Meghan Rhodena Winchester.

The judge reserved her harshest comments for Winchester, who was found in possession of a quantity of fentanyl large enough that it clearly suggested it was meant to be sold.

“In trafficking it to other users, you could have sent them to their death,” Halliday told a tearful Winchester. “You need to consider what it is you’re doing.”

“I know,” Winchester responded. Winchester and Douglas each pleaded guilty to possession of a drug for the purpose of trafficking, and Douglas pleaded to an additional firearms-related charge.

Federal Crown agent Hal Wellsch told the court the pair was arrested in the course of a search warrant executed in May. The warrant came on the heels of a lengthy investigation that sprang from confidential source information identifying Douglas and Winchester as being involved in the drug trade.

Having also received information that a gun was believed to be present at the Regina residence in question, members of the SWAT team were called on to execute the warrant. Douglas and Winchester were arrested without incident inside the house.

A subsequent search located, in the same room where Douglas was found, a loaded .38-calibre handgun.

Douglas was also found to be in possession of 223 grams of methamphetamine, along with various pieces of paraphernalia associated

In trafficking it to other users, you could have sent them to their death

... You need to consider what you’re doing.

with drug trafficking, such as scales and scoresheets.

Meanwhile, Winchester had a small amount of fentanyl on her, but was also deemed to be in charge of a safe that held 31.48 grams of the drug, an amount Wellsch described as “significant enough.”

Wellsch and George Combe, defence lawyer for the pair, joined in asking Halliday to impose the four-year sentences, which come over and above any remand time.

While that is considered to be at the lower end of the range given the circumstances, court heard some consideration was given to the early guilty pleas and what would have otherwise been an argument over the police search.

Combe said nothing about Douglas’s circumstances, but provided a few details about Winchester, whom he described as a “serious drug addict.”

Winchester used a variety of drugs before settling on fentanyl, and Combe pointed to a connection between her drug dependency and some surgeries that didn’t go well for her.

He said she has been on the methadone program, and wants to deal with her addictions.

Halliday urged Winchester to find a way to put her drug use behind her, pointing to the woman’s mother and grandmother seated in the courtroom gallery.

“One can only imagine how emotionally upsetting this would be for a parent to see you in this circumstance,” Halliday said.