Drug trafficker gets ‘incredible break’ for pleading guilty

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/01/2022 (1688 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man ensnared in an interprovincial police sting that targeted high-volume cocaine traffickers has been sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison.

Nyke Thorpe, 41, was one of seven Manitobans and four Ontario residents arrested in October 2020 following a joint Winnipeg Police Service and Ontario Provincial Police investigation dubbed Project Wonders.

The crime group’s core activities involved moving multiple kilograms of cocaine from southern Ontario to Winnipeg using traditional parcel and courier services and delivering millions of dollars in proceeds back to Ontario the same way.

Thorpe, who pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking cocaine, came to the attention of investigators in February 2020 after he was spotted completing a suspected drug deal with one of Project Wonders’ primary targets, Crown attorney Matthew Sinclair told court Wednesday.

Thorpe was placed under surveillance. Over several months, he received at least 27 kilograms of cocaine and couriered more than $2 million in drug proceeds to Ontario.

“Mr. Thorpe was continually receiving and distributing cocaine at a high level and collecting and remitting the proceeds of sales back to Ontario,” Sinclair told Queen’s Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg.

Thorpe was arrested October 21, 2020, after police executed co-ordinated search warrants at five Winnipeg residences, including Thorpe’s Hargrave Street apartment, and four residences in southern Ontario.

“This organization would not have functioned without (Thorpe)… and drained a significant amount of wealth from Manitoba,” Sinclair said.

Thorpe turned to drug dealing to support his six children in Ontario after an automobile injury left him unable to work as a carpenter, defence lawyer Billy Marks told court.

“It was basically go on assistance and this came up and he ultimately made the unfortunate decision to get involved,” Marks said.

Thorpe is the first of the 11 accused to enter a guilty plea. His sentence was jointly recommended by the Crown and defence and is expected to be in line with sentences recommended for a number of other accused, court heard.

But for those factors, Thorpe would have faced a much stiffer sentence, Greenberg said.

“People who do what you have done are considered to be a scourge on society,” she said. “You are getting an incredible break, as far as I’m concerned.”

Thorpe received credit for time served, reducing his remaining sentence to just over 5 ½ years.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca