Alberta man who tried to sell kilo of cocaine to officer at B.C. RCMP detachment loses appeal

The B.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeal is seen in this image from Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018.

An Alberta man who tried to sell a brick of cocaine to a police officer in the parking lot of a British Columbia RCMP detachment will serve a 26-month prison term after his appeal of the sentence was rejected by B.C.'s highest court.

Kevin David Scott was convicted of drug trafficking and possession in 2022, three years after he was arrested in Coquitlam, B.C.

A Mountie had been conducting surveillance for an unrelated drug investigation in the parking lot of a shopping mall when Scott, parked in his vehicle several stalls away, nodded at the undercover officer.

The officer drove away but Scott followed in his own vehicle, eventually arriving at the parking lot of the Coquitlam RCMP detachment, according to the B.C. Court of Appeal judgment delivered Tuesday.

When the officer rolled down his window to ask the man why he had followed him into the police lot, Scott tossed a tote bag into the police car through the open window.

Scott asked the officer about "the paper," an apparent reference to money, and the Mountie told him he was going to "park properly" before continuing the discussion, Justice Mary Newbury wrote on behalf of the B.C. Appeal Court panel.

While maneuvering into a parking space, the officer called for uniformed backup to the lot.

"Shortly thereafter, Mr. Scott realized the situation and attempted to flee the parking lot, driving over a curb and endangering nearby pedestrians," the judge wrote. "After a brief pursuit, Mr. Scott parked his car and, as he exited his vehicle to comply with the arrest, stomped on two cellphones that were in his possession."

Cocaine, MDA, $85K cash

The tote bag in the officer's car contained a one-kilogram brick of cocaine. A further search of Scott's vehicle turned up 500 grams of the illicit drug MDA in a compartment under the passenger seat. More than $85,000 in cash was also found in Scott's possession when he was arrested.

While he pleaded guilty to the charges against him, he later appealed his 26-month sentence on the grounds that the sentencing judge wrongly counted two aggravating factors against him.

The first was his destruction of the cellphones, which Scott argued could have been indicative of his level of remorse rather than his desire to destroy evidence. He also appealed the judge's finding that he was serving as a "trusted courier" in a sophisticated drug-trafficking operation between Alberta and B.C.

The sentencing judge found those circumstances increased his "moral blameworthiness" and warranted a prison sentence rather than a conditional sentence to be served in the community. Scott was already on probation at the time of his arrest, having previously been charged with two counts of uttering threats and three counts of drug possession.

Likely a 'trusted courier'

Regarding the destruction of the cellphones, the Appeal Court ruled that while Scott may have been within his rights to destroy his own property, the sentencing judge wasn't wrong to draw the inference she did.

With respect to the sophistication of the trafficking operation, the court found that "whilst his sole purpose in travelling to British Columbia may not have been to traffic the drugs — he is a truck driver — the description of Mr. Scott as a 'trusted courier' is defensible" given the quantities of drugs and cash he had been entrusted with.

"It is likely that as a 'trusted courier,' he had been instructed to deliver the cocaine to a buyer in British Columbia, so that at least one purpose of his being in this province was to complete the sale," Newbury wrote.

"In my view, it was open to the sentencing judge to reach the conclusions she did, and to regard the level of planning and sophistication as aggravating."

The Appeal Court upheld the lower court's decision and ruled the judge correctly considered Scott's circumstances, including his prior criminal record and his guilty plea, in reaching its decision to impose a prison term.