An Abbotsford man who was last month found guilty of seven drug and weapons charges has now been convicted of another 10 similar offences.
Corey Perkins, 29, was found guilty Monday (March 12) in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver at the conclusion of his trial.
Perkins was convicted on two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking (cocaine and fentanyl) and eight weapons offences.
His sentencing hearing has been scheduled for April 19.
Perkins originally faced 39 charges in this case, but they were whittled down to 10 by the time of his trial.
Perkins was arrested on Dec. 15, 2014 after police executed search warrants of a residence, a storage locker, a barn and vehicles linked to him.
Court documents indicate that Perkins told police in an interview the following morning that he uses heroin, and that heroin and a gun found at his parents’ home belonged to him.
He also indicated that there was a safe that contained drugs, drums of benzocaine (often used as a “cutting agent” in other drugs) and a shotgun. Perkins also acknowledged that firearms found in the storage locker were his.
During his trial, Perkins attempted to have those statements tossed out, but the judge denied the request.
He also issued other legal challenges to have some of the evidence thrown out, saying that search warrants obtained by police were not valid, but the judge also ruled against most of those.
This is one of two cases that Perkins has had proceeding through the courts at the same time.
He was also convicted last month – on Feb. 21 – of four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, two counts of drug trafficking and one count of possession of a prohibited firearm from April and May 2016.
Co-accused Caitlin Bransford, 31, was convicted of five charges – four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of possession of a prohibited firearm.
Their sentencing date is expected to be set today (Thursday).
In that case, investigators seized numerous guns, $60,000 in cash, and large quantities of drugs, including more than 1,000 pills containing fentanyl.
The firearms seized by police included prohibited and restricted weapons, semi-automatic pistols and rifles, revolvers, a sub-machine gun and a sawed-off shotgun, as well as magazines, silencers and ammunition.
Shortly after Perkins and Bransford were arrested, police announced that Perkins was facing a total of 66 charges in the two cases.
