An Abbotsford man has lost his bid to appeal his 2018 conviction on 10 drug and weapons charges.
Corey Perkins, 33, was sentenced in June 2018 to 12 years in prison on charges of possession of cocaine and fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking and for illegal possession of several firearms.
With credit for time already served, Perkins had another eight years and 10 months left to serve at the time of sentencing.
Perkins appealed the conviction on the basis of search warrants which the trial judge initially found had been invalid, but later determined to be acceptable.
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Perkins argued in his appeal application that the search warrants – which resulted in evidence being obtained from a storage locker, barn, home and vehicle – should not have been valid.
According to court documents, the judge initially stated that information used to obtain the search warrants didn’t clearly establish that Perkins was someone who had committed a drug offence.
RELATED: Abbotsford man sentenced to 12 years for cocaine, fentanyl and guns
This was, in part, because certain information from a confidential informant, known as Source E, was redacted (blocked) in order to protect the person’s identity, and the judge said he could not give enough weight to it.
But after the Crown provided more information that Source E had identified Perkins by sight and had picked up cocaine from him, the judge upheld the search warrants and any of the evidence that resulted from them.
The warrants were executed at a Canada Post outlet, a Mercedes car, a storage locker, a barn and the home of Perkins’ parents.
Among the numerous items seized were drugs that included rock cocaine, powder cocaine, LSD, meth, ketamine and fentanyl; numerous guns, including a CZ75 semi-automatic handgun, a Bersa .380 Thunder, a .357 Magnum, a K-Tel SU16F assault rifle and a Sterling SMB MK4 9 mm rifle; and $10,000 in cash.
Perkins originally faced 39 charges in the case, but they were whittled down to 10 by the time of his trial. Perkins was arrested in December 2014, convicted in March 2018 and sentenced in June 2018.
Perkins argued in his appeal bid that the judge had been inconsistent in his approach to informant evidence and that he should get a new trial.
But the three-judge B.C. Court of Appeal unanimously ruled on Tuesday (Jan. 12) to dismiss the appeal.
“I am not persuaded that the judge erred,” said Justice Susan Griffin in the written ruling. “The judge did not ‘reverse’ his earlier rulings. He followed the correct procedure in considering the unredacted information, applied the correct legal test, and properly appreciated all of the evidence in upholding the production order and warrants as valid.”
Perkins was also sentenced in October 2018 on 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.
He received another two years in prison on top of the 12 years he had already received.
Between the two cases, Perkins initially faced a total of 66 charges.
RELATED: Man and woman sentenced for 12 drug and weapons charges in Abbotsford
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