Jarrod Bacon gets 12 years
‘Evil’ of trafficking warrants stiff sentence, says judge
Unrepentant gangster Jarrod Bacon, 29, was hit Friday with a tough 12-year sentence for drug conspiracy charges in B.C. Supreme Court.
Associate Chief Justice Austin Cullen said Bacon — one of the three notorious brothers, including slain gang leader Jonathon — appears to be firmly committed to a life of crime, and has little chance of rehabilitation.
In February, Bacon and his co-accused, Wayne Scott, were found guilty of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine.
During the trial, court heard that Bacon and Scott — who is the grandfather of Bacon’s child — were involved in a scheme to import up to 100 kilograms of cocaine into Canada from Mexico. Scott faces sentencing at a later date. The two men were targeted in a reverse sting operation in which a police agent, who can only be identified as G.L. due to a publication ban, implicated the pair in the conspiracy.
In sentencing submissions Jeffrey Ray, Bacon’s lawyer, had said the fact that it was a “reverse” sting — with no drugs actually involved — means the crime was “an imaginary offence.”
However, prosecutor Peter Laprairie said Bacon was the “operating mind” in a plan with potential profits of $3 million at the kilogram level and up to $8 million at the gram level.
The judge said that, although no drugs were spread in the conspiracy scheme, the “notional size” of the plan, Bacon’s attitude, characteristics, past record and family ties justify a stiff sentence.
A 12-year sentence is at the high end of the scale for the charges, Cullen noted, but given the circumstances, he said a sentence that “firmly repudiates the evil” and social harm of drug trafficking was needed.
Bacon was given credit for four years and 10 months of his time served, which means his remaining sentence is just over seven years.
Bacon sat stoically as Cullen issued his sentence. His parents, who had supported him in court throughout his trial, did not attend his sentencing.
Cullen said there is some evidence that Bacon’s parents knew about the drug conspiracy of which he was convicted, although Bacon denies that.
In the trial, court heard wiretap evidence of G.L., who has a criminal record involving drug trafficking, meeting Bacon and Scott in early 2009 at Scott’s home in Abbotsford.
Bacon boasted that he could provide $3 million in financial backing to take the shipment of drugs.
The scheme was aborted in August 2009 after a police emergency response team entered a warehouse where the drug transaction was expected to take place.
Bacon admitted at trial that he was a gangster but claimed he wanted to steal the drugs and had no plans to traffic them. Prosecutors dismissed his testimony as an “outright fabrication,” calling him an “unmitigated liar.”
Bacon’s elder brother Jonathan was gunned down in August outside a casino in Kelowna.
His youngest brother, Jamie, was sentenced in 2010 to seven years in jail in connection with a series of weapons charges and is awaiting trial in the 2007 Surrey Six murder case.