Levi Gould (centre) is led out of Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook and taken to prison after being sentenced Wednesday morning to two years behind bars for possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
Gould, 55, was sentenced to two years in prison when he appeared in Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook Wednesday morning.
A fisherman for most of his life, Gould was arrested with Gerald Morrissey of Acton, Ont., in November 2012.
At the time, a joint drug investigation team from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary had been investigating the importation of cocaine from Ontario since 2011. When two investigating officers noticed a car carrying Morrissey, a person of interest in the investigation, they decided to follow it.
When the car stopped, Morrissey got out with something in his hand and entered another car, which was being driven by Gould. Gould drove a short distance and stopped.
When Morrissey got out of the second car, carrying a black bag, he and Gould were arrested. The police searched the bag and found a little more than 945 grams of cocaine.
Late last spring, Morrissey entered a guilty plea to possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and was imprisoned for four years.
At his sentencing, a police drug expert testified the value of the cocaine was about $10,000 and the evidence of the case was consistent with an intention to traffic the drug.
Gould also entered a guilty plea at the time, but was not sentenced until this week. Justice Laura Mennie, the same judge who sentenced Morrissey, endorsed a joint submission from Crown prosecutor David Mills and defence lawyer Karen Rehner that Gould be given two years in prison.
Mennie noted Gould’s role in the crime was not as significant as Morrissey’s, but he still ought to have known helping Morrissey was a serious criminal offence.
Mennie commended Gould for indicating to the court that he intends to pursue help for drug and alcohol addiction while serving his time.
It wasn’t the only matter Gould had on the court docket Wednesday. In the afternoon, Rehner entered a guilty plea on Gould’s behalf to a breach of a court order charge stemming from his 2012 arrest.
He was sentenced to 15 days for the breach, but was given credit for having served that time while waiting for a bail hearing after his arrest in 2012.
Gould and Morrissey had been arrested on similar drug charges in 2011, but all those charges against both were dismissed in court.
