Drug `gofer' a higher-level dealer than he claims, judge rules
A Calgarian known for blowing soap bubbles to cheer pedestrians on a drug-blighted downtown street was a higher-level fentanyl dealer than he's claimed, a judge has ruled.
Jonathan Sunstrum, who was convicted last January of possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, wasn't a mere courier but a more senior operative of a wholesale drug trafficking operation, Provincial Court Judge Mark Tyndale concluded.
“I am persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt that although Mr. Sunstrum's role in this drug-trafficking organization was not as the apex decision-maker, his role greatly exceeded that of a courier, or a runner, or even a food boss,” Tyndale stated in his written ruling dated June 28.
“In corporate parlance, Mr. Sunstrum was the executive vice-president of the (drug-trafficking) company.”
For several years, Sunstrum had been known to shower soap bubbles propelled from a brightly coloured suds gun on pedestrians walking beneath his apartment suite along the 100 block of 7th Avenue S.W.
He said he did it to provide cheer for those traversing what could be a tense stretch of downtown.
“It brings a smile to everyone's faces after a day of work,” he told Postmedia in 2014.
But in January 2019, that happy bubble burst when 1,001 grams of powdered fentanyl and multiple cellphones were found in a vehicle driven by Sunstrum during a traffic stop by RCMP in Canmore.
The drugs were considered 10 to 15 times more potent than the variety typically found on western Canadian streets, and worth between $2.5 million and $4.1 million.
He had been under police surveillance since late in the previous year and was detected using a Cheerios box to transport drugs and cash.
“In the vehicle were a number of Cheerios boxes, one of which contained approximately one kilogram of fentanyl with a purity of 82 per cent, 11.1 grams of a precursor used in the production of fentanyl, and 4.5 grams of a substance found to be a mixture of fentanyl and Benzodiazepine,” Tyndale stated.
In a hearing preceding Sunstrum's sentencing, lawyer Katherin Beyak had argued his role was that of a courier or “gofer.”
But the judge said he was confident text messages entered as evidence showed Sunstrum to be much more than that.
“While the evidence of the texts and messages shows Mr. Sunstrum is subordinate to Mr. Yun in the organization, it also shows that they work closely together and that Mr. Sunstrum is a highly trusted associate who has wide-ranging responsibilities and authority within the organization,” Tyndale wrote.
“(Calgary Police Service) Det. Collin Harris offered the expert opinion that Mr. Sunstrum's role in delivering drugs, collecting money, keeping books, monitoring inventory, discussing and in some cases setting prices, arranging a variety of transactions from washroom stall passes to gym locker exchanges, using an array of encrypted software apps to communicate.”