B.C. man convicted of fentanyl trafficking after judge rejects claim drugs belonged to a friend
A B.C. man has been convicted of possessing fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking despite claiming the drugs were not his – a defence the judge said he could not "accept or even entertain."
Kerry Wallace Chang was found guilty in a Nanaimo court this week and the decision was published Thursday.
Chang admitted to possessing 62.24 grams of fentanyl found in his bedroom when the Emergency Response Team raided the home in November of 2020 – but said it was for his personal use. He also "conceded" that an additional 471 grams of fentanyl found in the living room were for the purpose of trafficking but claimed it belonged to a friend.
"He denies possessing it in the legal sense of the word," Justice Robin A.M. Baird wrote.
The investigation into allegations that drugs were being trafficked out of the Nanaimo home was launched after the RCMP received a report from the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre that an inmate was using jailhouse phones "to communicate with people, including Mr. Chang, about drug trafficking in the Nanaimo area," the court heard.
Recordings of those phone calls were entered into evidence and showed that Chang was "dealing fentanyl to street retailers from his house," the decision said, also noting that Chang admitted that selling drugs had been his "only occupation for a long time."
Chang did not dispute this. Rather, he said that he stopped trafficking in fentanyl roughly four months before the raid, after he was seriously hurt in a car accident. The injuries he sustained were serious and included a broken neck, back and sternum, a shattered ankle and internal injuries.
"Mr. Chang claims, in effect, that he was forced to abandon his fentanyl trafficking business because of physical incapacity," according to the decision
The judge didn’t buy it.
"I do not for a second believe that Mr. Chang suddenly stopped trafficking fentanyl because of his car accident," the judge said.
"Mr. Chang was heavily entrenched in the local fentanyl trafficking scene, and would not voluntarily have relinquished his habitual lucrative trade activities notwithstanding his injuries."
Baird also said he was not persuaded that Chang would not have been physically capable of running his trafficking operation.
"It involved no energy or effort and, in fact, was perfectly suited to a person with physical limitations," the decision says,.
While the judge said the evidence supported Chang's claim that the home was a "flop house" frequented by people who used and sold drugs, he said he could not believe that a friend of Chang's would have left the amount of drugs he did in the living room.
"No drug dealer in his right mind would leave inventory of this value unattended, especially in a houseful of fentanyl addicts," Baird wrote, saying that the drugs would have had a wholesale value of $10,000 and a street value of up to $90,000.
When it came to the fentanyl in the bedroom, Chang said his injury had turned him into a "raging" fentanyl addict since being injured and that it was all for his own consumption in "large and continuous doses."
Baird said he was willing to concede that some of the drugs were for personal use but that he had "no hesitation in concluding that most of it was intended for sale or distribution, including the product found in his bedroom."
The judge found that the evidence presented in Chang's defence did not raise a reasonable doubt of his guilt.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Iran President Ebrahim Raisi found dead at helicopter crash site, state media says
Iranian president, the country’s foreign minister and others have been found dead at the site of a helicopter crash Monday after a search through a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest.
The push to Parliament's summer hiatus is about to begin, here's what you need to know
When MPs file back in to the House of Commons on Tuesday, it will be for the final five-week parliamentary push before hitting the barbecue circuit. Looking ahead to what could be a raucous rush to the summer hiatus, CTVNews.ca spoke with top House representatives to get a sense of what's atop their priority list.
What do we know so far about the mysterious crash of the helicopter carrying Iran's president?
The apparent crash of a helicopter carrying Iran's president and foreign minister on Sunday sent shock waves around the region.
ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Netanyahu
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Monday he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in connection with their actions during the seven-month war.
Red Lobster seeks bankruptcy protection with US$100 million in financing commitments
U.S.-based restaurant chain Red Lobster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Florida court after securing $100 million in financing commitments from its existing lenders, the company said on Sunday.
Stittsville residents seeking answers as bylaw cracks down on street basketball nets
Stittsville residents on Kearnsley Way are seeking answers after an unusual bylaw crackdown on Friday. Every home with a basketball net received a ticket instructing homeowners to remove their nets from the road.
'A horrible way to start the summer': 3 killed in serious boat crash on lake north of Kingston, Ont.
Three people were killed and five others were injured Saturday night following a boat crash on the Buck Bay area of Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont., the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said.
Your kids' ultraprocessed food consumption may put them at higher risk, study shows
The ultraprocessed foods your kids eat now may be putting them at greater risk for cardiometabolic problems – like heart attack, stroke and diabetes – in adulthood, a new study suggests.
Court eases internet restrictions for Sask. man who matched with a 15-year-old girl on Tinder
A Saskatchewan man who had a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old girl he met on Tinder successfully appealed to shorten release conditions barring him from online dating.