Crown wants seven years in drug case
The Crown is seeking a sevenyear sentence for a Halifax man who was arrested in July 2018 after a nine-month investigation into cocaine trafficking.
Nathaniel Lee Sparks, 38, pleaded guilty recently in Halifax provincial court to possessing about 775 grams of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possessing more than $425,000 in cash that was the proceeds of crime.
His sentencing hearing was held Tuesday, with Judge Ann Marie Simmons reserving her decision until Oct. 9.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the drugs and money were found in separate homes that were raided by police July 19, 2018.
The money was in a safe in a closet in Sparks’ sister’s bedroom at a house on Spring Avenue in Dartmouth. The cocaine was in a safe at a female friend’s residence on Walter Havill Drive in Halifax.
Sparks was arrested in the bedroom at the Spring Avenue address. He didn’t live at either residence but had keys to both homes and to the safes.
Crown attorney Glen Scheuer said Sparks had been observed coming and going from both addresses dozens of times during the investigation.
Scheuer described the residences as “stash houses,” used by drug traffickers to shield their criminal activities.
“These are extremely serious offences,” the prosecutor told the court.
Scheuer said Sparks bears a high degree of moral blameworthiness as the “driving force” behind a mid- to high-level trafficking operation that was “somewhat sophisticated.”
He pointed out that Sparks has previous convictions for possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, property mischief and breaching release conditions.
Scheuer recommended consecutive sentences of five years for the cocaine charge and two years for possessing proceeds of crime.
Defence lawyer Patrick MacEwen said the appropriate sentence would be half of what the Crown is seeking.
MacEwen suggested Sparks should get 3.5 years for the drug offence and a concurrent sentence of six to 12 months for the proceeds of crime.
“They’re part and parcel of the same transaction,” MacEwen said of the two offences in arguing for concurrent rather than consecutive sentences.
“This was a big mistake ... and he is very remorseful.”
MacEwen said he took issue with the Crown’s assertion that Sparks was the driving force behind the operation, or that he was squirrelling money away.
“There’s no evidence that Mr. Sparks was living beyond his means,” the lawyer said.
“There is ample evidence that Mr. Sparks possessed both the cocaine and funds. I have no dispute with that. There is zero evidence that Mr. Sparks was enjoying the proceeds in the sense (of) living the high life and taking trips and driving fast cars.
“He was found in possession of a large amount of money, and that’s all the Crown’s able to establish.”
Brandy Alexandra Sparks, Nathaniel’s 40-year-old sister, is charged with possessing proceeds of crime and money laundering, and Merissa Marie Lee Herring, 31, faces a charge of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. All those charges are expected to be dismissed after Nathaniel Sparks is sentenced next month.
In 2009, a Halifax jury acquitted Sparks and another man on two counts of second-degree murder in the December 2006 shooting deaths of two men outside an East Preston afterhours club called Vegas. There was no mention of that case Tuesday.
Before reserving decision, Simmons asked Sparks if he had anything to say to the court.
“This will be my last time in court,” Sparks said.