Derrick Marvin Cross of Deer Lake has 20 prior convictions for drug possession and trafficking, but claims it was his own addiction to the opioid that got him in trouble in November 2013.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been given information that Cross was in illegal possession of a prescription for the painkillers. He was seen entering a drug store in Deer Lake and apprehended a short while later with a bottle in his possession containing 80 of the pills that had not been prescribed to him.
He had initially pleaded not guilty to the charge, but changed that to guilty when he appeared in provincial court in Corner Brook Wednesday.
The court heard Cross has taken steps to address his dependency on drugs and, according to a letter provided to the court by Western Health, has been cooperating and taking his addiction treatment program seriously.
Drug tests have shown no sign of illegal drugs in his system since 2015.
Judge Catherine Allen-Westby agreed with the Crown’s request for a 60-day conditional sentence.
The judge also gave Cross six months of probation, despite the defence suggesting no probation was necessary.
The Crown had asked for a full year of probation.
Derrick Marvin Cross of Deer Lake has 20 prior convictions for drug possession and trafficking, but claims it was his own addiction to the opioid that got him in trouble in November 2013.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been given information that Cross was in illegal possession of a prescription for the painkillers. He was seen entering a drug store in Deer Lake and apprehended a short while later with a bottle in his possession containing 80 of the pills that had not been prescribed to him.
He had initially pleaded not guilty to the charge, but changed that to guilty when he appeared in provincial court in Corner Brook Wednesday.
The court heard Cross has taken steps to address his dependency on drugs and, according to a letter provided to the court by Western Health, has been cooperating and taking his addiction treatment program seriously.
Drug tests have shown no sign of illegal drugs in his system since 2015.
Judge Catherine Allen-Westby agreed with the Crown’s request for a 60-day conditional sentence.
The judge also gave Cross six months of probation, despite the defence suggesting no probation was necessary.
The Crown had asked for a full year of probation.
