A Collingwood man’s sentence of two years less a day for trafficking will be reduced to 13 months to be served in the community.
Shawn Brock, 50, whom Ontario Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst described as a "low-level" trafficker, had earlier pleaded guilty to trafficking. He had originally been charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death and trafficking along with a woman two decades his junior.
Court heard that Sam Bowyer, 25, was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead at a Tenth Street home in Collingwood on March 17, 2019. He died of heroin-fentanyl toxicity.
During their investigation, police found 0.3 grams of heroin-fentanyl mix and a cellphone which Bowyer had used to arrange to get drugs from Brock.
Fuerst pointed out that the drugs Brock provided were still in the home and wasn’t what killed Bowyer.
Amber Knudsen, earlier pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death and received a two-year sentence.
When asked for comment following Thursday’s sentencing, Brock, a father of two, said he has put that life behind him.
Following his arrest, Brock spent 189 days waiting for his day in court and then sought help from an addiction treatment centre for heroin addiction.
Court heard he then secured full-time work in the concrete business, becoming a team lead. He lives with his parents in Colllingwood where he helps the elderly couple.
“There is no evidence that he was a commercial trafficker,” said Fuerst, describing him as a “low-level drug trafficker.”
It was Knudsen, she said, who sourced the drugs from the supplier.
Fuerst handed down a sentence of two years less a day in jail, minus 9.5 months credit for the time Brock spent in jail after his arrest, plus 1.5 months credit for the time he spent on house arrest, leaving him with a net sentence of 13 months to be followed by 12 months on probation.
Brock, who was also convicted in 2018 of impaired driving and failing to stop for police, is to serve his sentence at home, but will be able to continue working.
