Cocaine was to fund legal costs, court hears

Already facing one drug charge and strapped for cash to pay his legal fees, Eric Lafrance St. Pierre returned to the drug world to raise the needed money, court heard.

On Friday, the 39-year-old man was sentenced at Regina Provincial Court for both counts of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, receiving a five-year sentence, less 147 days remand credit.

Federal Crown agent Paul Malone said the initial charge involved an intercepted delivery of a package of cocaine, sent from a Purolator office in Boucherville, Que., to a residence in Weyburn.

Court heard that on June 26, 2013, a man entered the courier outlet and paid cash for the delivery, signing the receipt as Eric Lafrance. Purolator staff opened the package afterward — due, Malone said, to the company’s policy and because of the interaction they’d had with the customer — and discovered it contained nine ounces of cocaine in a locked hard-shell plastic case.

The package was turned over to police and eventually made its way to the RCMP in Regina which replaced the bulk of the cocaine with an artificial product and arranged to continue with the delivery as part of the investigation.

An undercover operator posing as a Purolator courier contacted the number on the package and spoke with a male who identified himself as “Eric,” who said he was expecting the package.

“Police thought he seemed excited about it,” Malone said.

Surveillance was placed on Lafrance St. Pierre at his Weyburn residence and he was arrested upon opening the package on July 3, shortly after it was delivered by the undercover operator.

Lafrance St. Pierre remained in custody for a while but was later released on conditions. He was eventually picked up on another drug charge on Feb. 20, after police came to believe he was involved in street-level drug sales.

After conducting surveillance, police approached Lafrance St. Pierre as he left his Regina residence. His attempt to dash back inside the house was derailed when he slipped on ice and snow. He then tried to distance himself from a bag of cocaine in his possession by tossing it away, but police retrieved it.

Searches turned up a total of eight ounces and nine grams of cocaine and items typically used in drug trafficking.

If sold, the drugs would have brought in thousands of dollars in profits.

Defence lawyer Sharon Fox said her client, originally from Quebec, had fallen on hard times prior to these offences, having lost money following a divorce. Another woman he’d been with after that had been having farm-based financial problems, leading to further economic strain for Lafrance St. Pierre.

Though employed following his release on the initial charge, Fox said her client’s “mounting legal bills again placed him under some financial strain,” leading to the February offence.

“His words to me when I met with him and discussed this matter were that this was one of the stupidest things he’s ever done,” Fox told the court.

Speaking briefly on his own behalf, Lafrance St. Pierre told Judge Anna Crugnale-Reid he made poor choices and wants to put these offences behind him and get on with his life.

His words to me … were that this was one of the stupidest things he’s ever done.

DEFENCE LAWYER SHARON FOX