SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I.- A Summerside man has been sentenced to a little more than two years in jail after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
Sheldon Blake Collicutt, 31, pleaded guilty to the charge earlier this week and was sentenced on Friday.
In her remarks, Supreme Court Justice Terri MacPherson spoke of the seriousness of the charge.
“Not only does the drug trade negatively affect those personally involved in using drugs and their families, the damage and risks to our community as a whole cannot be overstated.”
Before he was taken into custody, the judge spoke directly to the accused.
“Mr. Cullicutt, the community deserves better than this from you, so take that under advisement while you have some time on your hands.”
Collicutt and a female co-accused were originally charged on April 25, 2017, when members of the joint Prince County police drug unit raided a home on Notre Dame Street in Summerside. The home was across the street from the Summerside Boys and Girls Club. Inside, police found 53 grams of cocaine, 41 grams of benzocaine mixed with cocaine, 1.6 pounds of cutting agent, a DIY cocaine press, scales, debt sheets, cellphones and cash. There were also two children home at the time.
Both of the accused had originally pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and opted for a jury trial in Supreme Court.
On March 12, the court went through the process of selecting 12 jurors, but before the trial could start the next day, Collicutt changed his plea to guilty to a single count of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. All other charges against him and his co-accused were dropped.
Crown attorney Chris White outlined a number of factors that he said should be considered aggravating in this case, including the amount of and type of drug in question and the fact that there were children in the home.
Collicutt’s defence lawyer, Robert Rideout, argued that most of the drugs found in the home were for personal use.
“We’re dealing with someone with an addiction, not a commercial operation.”
He also pointed out that Collicutt has no related criminal record.
MacPherson sentenced Collicutt to 28 months in jail, forbid him from owning weapons for 10 years, issued a DNA sample request, forfeited the items seized during the police raid and ordered him to pay a $200 victim surcharge.
@JournalPMacLean
