An Alberta man convicted on two counts of trafficking cocaine and MDMA after tossing a kilo of cocaine to an officer in a B.C. RCMP parking lot has lost his appeal of a 26-month prison sentence.
Kevin David Scott pleaded guilty to the charges in Port Coquitlam Provincial Court and was sentenced by Judge Kasandra Cronin on Oct. 25, 2023.
B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Mary Newbury, writing the unanimous judgment of the three-judge panel, said RCMP officers were conducting surveillance in an unrelated drug investigation in a Coquitlam mall parking lot May 9, 2019.
Newbury said in the July 16 decision that a constable was in an unmarked car when Scott nodded at him from his vehicle several stalls over.
The constable drove out of the parking lot, and was followed by Scott.
The officer then went to the staff parking lot of the Coquitlam RCMP detachment where he planned to question Scott about his following the constable’s vehicle.
But, as the constable rolled down his window, Scott tossed a tote bag into the constable’s car.
After a brief exchange about “the paper,” the constable told Scott he was going to “park properly.” While doing so, the constable called for uniformed officers to attend. It was then that Scott realized what was going on and attempted to flee the police parking lot
Newbury said police found a kilogram of cocaine in the bag and 500 grams of MDA in Scott’s car. The man also had more than $85,000 in cash in his possession.
“Clearly, then, he was not a low‑level drug seller,” Newbury said.
The Crown sought prison time while defence requested a conditional sentence order (CSO).
Scott appealed on three grounds: that the sentencing judge erroneously found he demonstrated a level of sophistication and planning in the offence and regarded that as an aggravating factor; that she erroneously considered the destruction of two phones as an aggravating factor; and that, as a result, she had failed to give “serious consideration” to a CSO and failed to determine the extent to which a CSO could provide deterrence and denunciation.
Newbury said Scott had driven drugs as a courier to B.C. from Alberta and was in possession of the drugs and cash.
She said it was open to the judge to see the destruction of the phones at his arrest as an aggravating factor.
Part of the reason Scott had sought the CSO was to care for his children, one of whom is blind and disabled.
“The judge observed that collateral consequences cannot be used to reduce a sentence to the point that it is disproportionate to the gravity of the offence or the offender’s blameworthiness,” Newbury ruled.
