A 91原创 RCMP investigation five years ago has led to a local man receiving a 15-month prison sentence for drug trafficking.

Shane Timothy Marchant pleaded guilty last fall in New Westminster Supreme Court, and was sentenced on Feb. 7 by Justice Liliane Bantourakis.

The investigation, in September 2020, involved local Mounties surveilling Marchant's home, where they saw 25 "short duration meetings consistent with drug trafficking," Bantourakis noted in her sentencing ruling.

Investigators obtained a warrant and searched the home on Oct. 9. They found about 117 grams of cocaine and methamphetamine, along with 18 grams of MDMA, and 229 grams of cannabis. The total value of drugs seized was around $11,000.

Bantourakis noted that Marchant only had a limited criminal record before his arrest for drug trafficking, but his single conviction was for possession of a firearm, and he was serving his 18-month conditional sentence for that charge when he was arrested in 91原创.

She also noted his personal circumstances, including the fact that he had longstanding drug use issues. His own father introduced him to crack cocaine at the age of 12, Bantourakis wrote in her ruling.

Since his arrest, Marchant has been sponsored to go to a 30-day recovery program by a local baseball league, and he told the court he's been clean ever since.

The Crown prosecutors asked for a sentence of 15 months, while Marchant's defense lawyers asked for him to serve a conditional sentence in the community.

Bantourakis ultimately decided that a second conditional sentence was not appropriate.

"Mr. Marchant was, of course, subject to a CSO [conditional sentence order] and effectively under house arrest when he committed this offence, and it did not deter him," she wrote.