Lenient sentence for Crofon fentanyl dealer
I find it’s outrageous Crofton fentanyl-heroin-methamphetamine dealer Taygen Mitchell Edward Butler recently received a paltry three-year jail sentence for dealing deadly drugs to make money.
According to the June 3, 2021 Chemainus Valley Courier and Cowichan Citizen, Nanaimo Supreme Court Judge Robin Baird said Butler was “acting as a pure parasite and profiteer, selling potentially lethal drugs to vulnerable people in order to get rich.”
He knew his poisonous product was “at the very least causing extreme health problems” in our community that is struggling with a tragic, costly, national opioid epidemic.
But Butler — armed with a shotgun, a taser and brass knuckles — continued pedalling deadly dope “in significant amounts heedless of the consequences, his conscience completely untroubled by the likelihood of casualties,” the judge said.
Yet Judge Baird handed Butler just three years behind bars, despite our Crown counsel requesting a sentence of five years and three months.
The public’s logical questions are obvious — and demand legal answers:
How many folks died from Butler’s drug sales?
How many more drug deaths must occur before our courts take harsh action concerning criminals such as Butler?
How much did it cost taxpayers in police, Crown, prison and court time to arrest and convict this “parasite”?
How fast did deadly drug importers take to replace Butler after he was collared?
Should Butler’s reduced sentence be conditional on naming his suppliers?
How long will it take for Butler to be paroled?
The big picture is that constant drug education, plus mandatory, stiff penalties are needed to finally rid our society of the demand for such deadly drugs.
Then maybe we could use all those savings to detox, counsel, heal, and rehabilitate the victims of Butler and his horrible ilk.
Peter Rusland
North Cowichan
