An Abbotsford man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison on 10 drug and weapons charges.
Corey Perkins, 31, was sentenced Monday in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on charges of possession of cocaine and fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking and for illegal possession of several firearms.
When credit for time already served is taken into account, Perkins will serve another eight years and 10 months in prison.
Perkins originally faced 39 charges in the case, but they were whittled down to 10 by the time of his trial. Perkins was arrested on Dec. 15, 2014 and was convicted March 12 of this year.
His charges stemmed from several search warrants that police executed in Abbotsford.
One of the warrants was at a Canada Post outlet, where Perkins had been seen dropping off a package to be delivered.
Court documents state that the package contained an oatmeal box, inside of which were plastic bags with rock cocaine, powder cocaine and fentanyl.
|
|
| COREY PERKINS |
He was arrested later that day while taking his Mercedes through a car wash. Among the items found in the vehicle were a substance containing fentanyl and a derivative of fentanyl, $5,000 in $20 bills and a set of keys to a storage locker.
The storage locker was searched by police, who found 10 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.
Several of the guns were loaded and had their serial numbers ground off.
Police also found numerous rounds of ammunition, gun magazines, and drugs – ketamine, MDMA, meth, rock cocaine and LSD.
Police also executed a search warrant at a barn that Perkins had rented. There, they found another handgun, numerous rounds of ammunition, and large quantities of drugs in sealed bags.
One bag was labelled “Fatty 300 perk” and contained 44 white pills that were a mixture of fentanyl, a derivative of fentanyl, caffeine and benzocaine.
The final search warrant was executed at the home of Perkins’ parents, where police found a small amount of drugs, $5,000 cash and a loaded handgun outside the basement bathroom window.
Court documents indicate that Perkins told police in an interview the morning after his arrest 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.
Perkins is also scheduled to be sentenced June 27 in another case. He was convicted 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.
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, but the charges were narrowed down over time.
