Drug trafficking trial puts senior couple behind bars
A London, Ont. courtroom heard Friday that from a so-called “hobby farm” near Newbury, drugs were being housed and trafficked.
In December of 2016, the OPP searched the property and seized fentanyl, morphine, and Oxycodone.
In addition to the drugs, police said they also seized nearly $50,000 in cash.
In April, 68-year-old Floriano Daponte and 69-year-old Vivian Lee Hamilton were each found guilty of five counts of possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
Justice Michael McArthur told the courtroom that when officers arrived, “Ms. Hamilton was located by police alone in a bathroom and searched. She possessed 32 fentanyl patches in a plastic bag in her underwear.”
He continued, “This was a commercial operation in a rural setting,” adding, “The defendants were operating an illicit pharmacy and commercial gain was the obvious motive.”
Justice McArthur told the court that the message needs to be clear to the community, “All of the substances involved were serious and highly addictive hard drugs and included fentanyl.”
“These drugs individually and collectively continue to wreak harm to individuals in society,” he added.
The court heard that Daponte has a lengthy criminal record and has spent a lot of time in and out of jail. However, this is Hamilton’s first conviction. The court heard that she’s always been employed and she has fostered over 200 children.
When Justice McArthur reviewed the case, he said there needed to be prison time because of the types of drugs involved.
The Crown asked for a 4-6 year sentence for Daponte, and a 3-5 year sentence for Hamilton.
The defense asked for conditional sentences.
As a result, Justice McArthur sentenced Daponte, who is already serving time on another matter, to five years in prison. He gave Hamilton a three-year sentence.
However, this case may be far from over. Even though Hamilton was taken into custody, she was released on bail pending an appeal of the whole case.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.