CORNER BROOK — A Nova Scotian man convicted of possessing 474 grams of marijuana in a highway drug bust in southwestern Newfoundland has been given a six-month conditional sentence.
Bradley Tyrone Keddy, 48, was also given 12 months of probation by Judge Wayne Gorman when sentenced in provincial court in Corner Brook recently.
Keddy's pickup truck was stopped shortly after it had left the ferry in Port aux Basques on Sept. 10, 2010. The investigating officer found the drugs, which had a street value of $2,000, in two baggies wrapped in shopping bags and a heavier plastic bag with duct tape.
The package had been rolled into a T-shirt located in a gym bag.
Although Crown attorney Susan Gallant had asked for six months in prison, she agreed a conditional sentence would also be in the range of sentencing for this offence.
Keddy's lawyer, Keir O'Flaherty, argued for the house arrest. His client owns and operates a cement construction company, and Keddy himself testified at his trial that a period of incarceration would result in the company's failure.
Keddy has a criminal record, but Gorman agreed with the conditional sentence because the prior record is dated and does not include any convictions under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and Keddy was not considered a danger to the general public.
Gorman said the minimal risk Keddy presented could be managed through the conditions of his conditional sentence order.
