Addicted fentanyl dealer who skipped bail gets 81/2 years

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This article was published 05/07/2022 (1220 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg fentanyl dealer arrested with a handgun and a significant quantity of the powerful opioid, who later fled his bail placement and was rearrested carrying more of the potent drug, has been sentenced to 81/2 years in prison.

The synthetic opioid that can be 50 to 100 times as strong as morphine remains a concern countrywide. In 2021, 231 Manitobans died from overdoses linked to fentanyl, according to preliminary numbers from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Da Daniel The Nguyen, 38, pleaded guilty to a slew of charges stemming from two 2019 incidents, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Colleen Suche wrote in her June 23 sentencing decision.

Winnipeg police executed a search warrant on Nguyen’s apartment in March 2019 — at which point, he testified under cross examination, he had been selling fentanyl for about eight months.

Inside, investigators found 36.71 grams of fentanyl, some cocaine, a nine-millimetre semi-automatic handgun, a can of bear mace and drug paraphernalia. At the street level, fentanyl is generally sold per “point”: — 0.1 g for $40, according to Winnipeg police. Nguyen was subject to two weapons prohibitions from earlier convictions.

He was released on bail to stay at the Behavioural Health Foundation in August 2019, but went absent without official leave in October. He was arrested again in February 2020, carrying 4.6 g of fentanyl, and was charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.

The Crown, which had sought 18 years combined, argued Nguyen was a “high-end street dealer,” selling quantities of a quarter ounce or more — and made the request for a long sentence because of “the dangerous nature of fentanyl,” Suche wrote.

The defence instead sought 71/2 years, maintaining Nguyen was a street dealer, supporting his longstanding addiction. Nguyen testified he purchased and sold an ounce of fentanyl about once per week, mostly to a set group of people, who used the drugs themselves.

The length of a trafficking sentence is partially determined by the role the offender plays in the drug trade, Suche wrote.

However, she wrote, although the Manitoba Court of Appeal set sentencing ranges for hard drug trafficking a decade ago, it has so far declined to do so for fentanyl.

In one fentanyl case, Suche wrote, the court noted sentencing ranges must reflect local conditions and, at that time, there was insufficient case law in Manitoba to do so.

“As the Crown points out however, the court did state that sentences for trafficking in fentanyl must reflect the increased harm caused by the drug,” the judge wrote.

However, Suche had reasonable doubt he was trafficking at the level the Crown asserted, including the testimony of a Winnipeg police officer, who noted Nguyen kept logs of debts owed to him, concluding he was selling to support his habit.

Nguyen, a son of Vietnamese refugees, has a longstanding addiction to opioids — since his early 20s, Suche wrote.

In the two years he’s spent in pre-trial custody, he completed a drug rehabilitation program and made “real progress in both understanding and addressing his addiction,” the judge said.

Nguyen was convicted of robbery with a firearm in June 2011. Prior to that offence, Nguyen had gone to British Columbia, where his sister lives, to get away from the drug scene in Winnipeg.

“He hoped her positive influence would help him,” Suche wrote. But he soon became involved with drugs again. He returned to Winnipeg and checked into detox at the Health Sciences Centre, but left after a week.

In 2011, Nguyen and another person had robbed a pharmacy. He was caught and pleaded guilty to possession for the purpose of trafficking a month later. Nguyen was sentenced to 61/2 years in total, less pre-trial time in custody.

He was later convicted of assault causing bodily harm and slapped with another year in prison, stemming from incidents in Vancouver prior to his robbery arrest.

Nguyen stayed sober for a year out of prison, the judge wrote, but that came undone and he began using heroin and cocaine. He later switched to fentanyl.

“It was the ‘easiest and cheapest high,’” Suche wrote, quoting Nguyen.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera