Drug trafficker released pending sentencing — with warning from judge

A 33-year-old man, released on bail pending sentencing after pleading guilty to weapons and drug-related offences, was warned to be on his best behaviour.

“I’ve been a judge for 25 years and most of the times I’ve done what I’m doing now it fails,” Judge Harvey Brownstone said in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines on Thursday after agreeing to a request that Jeffrey Allard be released from custody and placed under house arrest until his sentencing date in January.

The judge noted the St. Catharines man has a prior conviction for failing to comply with a court order.

“I fear we’re setting him up to fail,” he said. “I want him to know he has a lot at stake.”

Allard pleaded guilty to seven charges including possession of methamphetamines for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a prohibited weapon.

The charges stem from a series of incidents that occurred in St. Catharines between April and November.

In April, for example, Allard was arrested in a parking lot and found to be carrying 35 grams of cocaine, more than seven grams of crystal meth and more than $3,000 in cash.

On June 18, he was arrested again after police executed a search warrant at a St. Catharines residence and seized three firearms. Two of the weapons — both .22-calibre rifles — had been modified and one had been reported stolen from Alberta. Seven grams of crystal meth and 16 grams of cocaine were also seized.

In November, he was found asleep behind the wheel of a car. Police in that case seized 9.1 grams of cocaine and a small amount of crystal meth.

Court was told the Crown and defence have agreed to a joint submission of two years behind bars as a global sentence when the defendant returns to court Jan. 9.

“If you screw up your bail, that could screw up your deal,” the judge warned the defendant.