Drug sale at treatment facility leads to jail

A P.E.I. man who sold a drug to another resident at a treatment facility was sentenced recently to 45 days in jail.

Andrew Kevin McQuaid appeared before Chief Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court in Charlottetown for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to breaching his probation.

In his submissions, defence lawyer Thane MacEachern said McQuaid sold one prescribed drug to another client who was on the same prescription.

“This isn’t a case that he was trafficking for profit,” MacEachern said.

MacEachern asked for a noncustodial sentence, saying it would allow McQuaid to continue with the positive steps he has taken since his release from custody.

Crown attorney Jeff MacDonald told the court it was a lucky break for McQuaid that he was only looking at a probation breach. McQuaid jeopardized not only his own rehabilitation, but that of another resident as well and it was a serious breach, MacDonald said.

Before sentencing McQuaid, Orr said that given his lengthy criminal record and his involvement with drugs and addiction issues, he would have known the consequences of what he did.

“I think it’s a little more than a lapse in judgment,” she said.

Orr said a non-custodial sentence wasn’t appropriate and the breach was much more serious than just not showing up or following programming at the addiction facility.