Tragic past prompts leniency for Calgary cocaine smuggler

An attempt to smuggle 31 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $3 million has landed a Calgary man an 8½-year prison term.

But in declining a harsher sentence sought by the Crown, Justice Kristine Eidsvik said Bradley Michael Gaudrault's tragic past justified a reduction in length.

Prosecutors Kent Brown and Dominic Puglia had suggested a term in a federal penitentiary in the range of 12 to 15 years.

But Eidsvik agreed with defence lawyers Sean Fagan and Rosie Murphy, in part because of Gaudrault's history, which included dealing with his mother's suicide when he was 19.

Gaudrault, 30, was convicted in March by a Calgary Court of Queen's Bench jury of importing and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. He was arrested on March 17, 2018, attempting to enter Canada at the Carway, Alta., border crossing.

The judge said mitigating circumstances in the case warranted a lesser sentence.

“He was born and raised in Halifax mainly by a mother who suffered from a gambling and alcohol addiction, as well as mental illness,” Eidsvik wrote.

“He had a traumatic upbringing suffering from poverty, an abusive stepfather, and uncertain living conditions. His mother took her own life when Mr. Gaudrault was 19 years old and this had a significant negative impact on him. His life from that point on was in a downward spiral. He dropped out of school and associated with ill-advised people.”