A 49-year-old man who pleaded guilty to his involvement in dumping the body of another man on a Toronto sidewalk, along with a drug-trafficking charge, was handed a three-year sentence that was reduced to 126 days after receiving credit for time served.
Paul Morris appeared at the virtual sentencing Tuesday via video link from the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene wearing an orange top with a matching head wrap and large black-rimmed glasses.
His lawyer, Elliott Willschick, told the court prior to sentencing that Morris has been in lockdown for 27 consecutive days.
Morris was one of three men charged in connection with what police described at the time as a home invasion/robbery gone wrong in the Collingwood area.
Early on March 2, 2020, Morris was among four people who showed up at a Clearview Township home in which the resident was injured and one of the suspects, 36-year-old Rohan Rose of Toronto, was killed. Both Morris and the resident had been shot.
Court heard that Morris, a father of seven, drove the black Mercedes in which Rose, Marvin Lattif and Rick Graham travelled. They left Toronto on March 1, 2020 and arrived at the Clearview Township home after midnight and then returned to Toronto several hours later where they dumped Rose’s body.
Police discovered the body on a sidewalk near Jane Street and Highway 400, just north of Woodward Avenue, around 2:30 a.m.
During sentencing, Ontario Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst noted that much of their travels through Toronto, including the dumping of the body, were captured by street surveillance cameras.
“Mr. Lattif and a second person got out of the Mercedes. They pulled Mr. Rose’s body out of the rear passenger-seat area. They picked his body up from the ground and dragged it away from the car and put it on the sidewalk,” said the judge.
Lattif, 35, of Toronto, had earlier pleaded guilty to committing an indignity to human remains by disposing of a body at the side of the road and was given a 14-month jail sentence. His sentence was reduced to nine months after receiving credit for pre-sentence custody and house arrest.
Charges against Graham, who was 32 at the time, are being stayed, meaning he won't be prosecuted as part of the plea deal with the other two men.
Last month, Morris pleaded guilty to two unrelated offences: offering an indignity to a human body and possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking.
Court heard Morris was arrested the following July while driving and police found 55.4 grams of cocaine and 15.7 grams of purple fentanyl in the vehicle.
Fuerst said the drugs were evidence of his involvement in the commercial drug trade.
“Mr. Morris has an appalling criminal record,” said Fuerst, adding his guilty plea and expression of remorse was a mitigating factor.
The Crown was unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt what role he played at the Collingwood-area home, the judge said.
She handed him a three-year sentence on the drug-trafficking charge and two years concurrently on the charge of offering an indignity to a human body.
Morris has been in jail awaiting trial for 646 days and was given credit for 969 days, leaving him with a remaining sentence of 126 days.
