1997 ... a bad year ... the legal problems
Now, the legal issues. I had been charged with possession of cocaine (20 grams) with intent to traffic in May of the previous year, 1997. I’ll admit that motivation to be involved with this activity was greed in the past but by this point it had become an addiction problem. I had a massive appetite for drugs, fueled by addiction, which could only be fed by the sale of drugs. (let’s say $200 - $1000+ per day spent on drugs. I was barely human, going through life like a zombie.) (throughout this period (’92-’98)
I also owned and operated a small business, Days of Wine and Beer, selling brewing supplies. I was able to operate this quite well until brought to my knees by drugs. I’m going to skip a lot of background issues here and go straight to court. The prosecutor felt that what I had been involved in was serious enough to warrant 3-5 years incarceration. My lawyer, John Davis, was able to convince him to ask for 2 years less a day, the maximum that can be served in Provincial Jail, anything above that moves up to the Federal system.
My lawyer informed me that there had recently been an amendment to the Criminal Code allowing sentences less than 2 years to be conditional, which means served in the community with certain conditions. He didn’t seem too confident that such a sentence would be imposed on myself as my crime was serious, especially by P.E.I. standards. However, I approached Dr. Jones and asked her to write a letter to the court stating her medical opinion and the need for treatment. I also asked Inez at Talbot, and my councilor there, Frank B.., to write a letter describing what progress I had made up to that point. Both of these letters were presented to the court.
After a considerable amount of time, which seemed like an eternity to me, the judge returned from his deliberation and ruled in favor of a conditional sentence. I can’t express in words the feeling I had at that moment, but I’m glad that my wife and parents were there to share it with me.
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