A Victoria man has been found guilty of three different counts of possession of a controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking, and given a seven year conviction after he was found in possession of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine.
Rande Michael Brown is a 53-year old man who was convicted on Dec. 19, 2017, after he was found with 24.8 grams of fentanyl mixed with caffeine, 7.8 grams of methamphetamine, and 2.7 grams of cocaine. He also had over $2,800 in cash, which police believe suggests Brown had sold a substantial amount of drugs on the day of his arrest. He was sentenced on Sept. 18.
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“The use and abuse of such drugs continues to plague our society, causing untold misery and even death to many, while undermining whole communities and straining public resources beyond breaking point,” wrote Justice Evan C. Blake in his Reason for Sentence Report.
“The unregulated use of fentanyl has in recent years been implicated as a particular scourge in the community. The disastrous consequences of fentanyl usage, and the judicial response to the problem, are matters that deserve special consideration here”
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Brown held previous convictions in drug trafficking, including once in 2013 for a schedule 1 substance – other than fentanyl – for which he received a 300-day sentence and another conviction in Calgary in 1984 for trafficking a restricted drug, for which he received a three-month sentence.
Brown self-identified as a person struggling with drug addiction, and estimated he was spending approximately $1,000 per day to support his habit.
This led Blake to believe that “for the most part, if not entirely, he was selling drugs in order to feed his own addiction.”
Brown has battled with alcohol and drug addiction since he was very young, and had a short stint of sobriety before his infant son was killed in an accident.
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Brown also reported an abusive upbringing and a problem in finding his own identity. Brown’s step father, who he said was abusive, was Aboriginal, and Brown believed until he was 16 that he was also Aboriginal, which was incorrect.
“He is not an Aboriginal person biologically, but it may well be true that some of the abuse that he suffered as a boy occurred because his step-father lacked basic parenting skills due to the trauma which he endured as a result of his own Aboriginal status,” Blake wrote. However, Blake did not apply sentencing principals usually reserved to reduce Aboriginal representation in the correctional facilities to Brown.
Brown received 34 months and 15 days for possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, 30 months for methamphetamine and 24 months for cocaine.
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