A New Brunswick man, caught by police in Kenora transporting 48 kilograms of marijuana from British Columbia to Quebec two years ago, will serve no jail time for his actions despite confessing to the crime.

 

 

Pascal Fortier, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of possession for the purposes of trafficking in a Kenora court Tuesday and was given an 18-month conditional sentence.

Federal prosecutor Paul Gordon characterized the incident as a classic "courier case," whereby Fortier's only task was transporting and delivering the drugs, not selling them.

He also explained that the two-year delay in prosecuting Fortier was due to the fact he had been incarcerated in a New England jail for the past 15 months serving time for attempting to smuggle drugs across the U.S. border in 2004.

Fortier was out on bail on this charge when he was arrested near Kenora April 14, 2005.

Gordon told the court Fortier was the passenger in a van pulled over by a Ontario Provincial Police officer who stopped the vehicle because it was going suspiciously slow - 75-80 km/h in a 90 km/h zone.

Following some routine questions, the officer was going to allow Fortier and the driver to continue, but then asked the two men if they would answer more questions and if they would agree to a vehicle search.

They consented to the search and police then found two cardboard boxes filled with 48 kilograms of marijuana inside.

Defence counsel Danny Gunn noted Fortier, who did not have a record involving drugs prior to his 2004 arrest, had fallen on hard times and succumbed to the temptation to make some easy money.

 

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