Young Waterloo meth dealer avoids jail after making ‘180-degree turn’

A young methamphetamine dealer was spared jail on Wednesday after turning his life around.

“I’m prepared to take a chance on you today, but do not come back,” Justice Michael Epstein said in handing out a suspended sentence to Brodie Wettlaufer, 22. “You got a break today.” The Waterloo man pleaded guilty to possession of a small amount of heroin, theft from a Bay store and possession of meth for the purpose of trafficking.

On Dec. 2, 2015, Wettlaufer was found with 6.9 grams of meth, $410 in cash, scales and baggies.

The judge concluded he was a low-level street trafficker selling to feed his own habit.

The prosecution sought a one-year jail sentence.

But Epstein said Wettlaufer has made great strides to change his life. He is off drugs, working full time and has repaid $4,500 he owed in child support.

“He reconnected with his family, managed to regain their trust and over the past year has done nothing to cause them to lose their trust,” the judge said. “I don’t know what more we could have expected from him over the last year.

“So the issue today becomes whether or not, in those circumstances, he should be sacrificed at the altar of general deterrence and denunciation.”

General deterrence is the notion that a tough sentence may deter like-minded people.

“If they understand that there are significant consequences, then perhaps they will think twice before committing similar offences,” Epstein said.

But the judge said it’s also important to send a message that an accused will get credit for making “essentially a 180-degree turn.”

“I find that the accused has done some exceptional things,” Epstein said.

A one-year jail sentence would be “preposterous,” the judge said. Keeping his job is an essential part of his rehabilitation. Losing it would “set him back considerably.”

Wettlaufer was given two years of probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service work. While on probation, he can have no alcohol or illegal drugs. He faces a lifetime weapons ban. He also must provide a DNA sample for the national database.

The judge explained the meaning of a suspended sentence.

“This is not a sentence, it is a suspension of a sentence,” Epstein said.

If Wettlaufer follows all the terms of probation, he will never be sentenced. But if he breaks one, he could be charged and sent to jail. The judge could also revoke the suspension and sentence him on the initial three charges.

“If that happens, you should have no illusions about what the results would be,” Epstein told him. “There can’t be any realistic alternative to jail.”

Wettlaufer, who wore a white dress shirt and tie in court, spent 16 days in pretrial custody and a year on house arrest. “Good luck to you,” the judge said. “I hope I don’t see you again.”