Anti-crime crusader convicted of trafficking offence
Fredericton police found Lawrence (Larry) Steven Chippin, 62, in uptown hotel room with significant quantity of meth, though he claimed it belonged to someone else
A Fredericton man who’s active on social media campaigning against crime in the community has been convicted of possessing meth for the purpose of trafficking.
Lawrence (Larry) Steven Chippin, 62, of Dundonald Street, stood trial in Fredericton provincial court earlier this summer on a charge of possession of methamphetamines for the purpose of trafficking.
He was back before Judge Cameron Gunn on Monday to hear his decision on the matter.
Gunn said the charge stemmed from a search warrant that Fredericton Police Force officers executed at Room 221 in the Days Inn on Prospect Street on July 30, 2021.
“They found drugs belonging to someone,” the judge said, specifically 24.77 grams of meth
The officers also found Chippin inside the room, he said, along with two women.
The investigation revealed Chippin had been living at the Days Inn for a couple of months at that point, Gunn said, and officers found items in the room that confirmed it was where Chippin had been living.
Among them were documents with his name on them and his identification, the judge said, and a pizza box with Chippin’s name on the receipt.
Police also found meth - in both crystal and pill forms - in plain sight in the room, the court noted, along with other paraphernalia associated with drug trafficking, such as dime baggies, scoresheets and digital scales.
Chippin was arrested, taken to the city police station, processed and released on conditions.
The defendant is known in local social-media circles, as he administers a number of Facebook groups related to missing persons and crime, including Missing & Unsolved New Brunswick.
He also established a Facebook group called NB Proud that similarly dwells on criminal-justice issues.
At his trial, court heard that at the time of the search, police found a laptop computer that was receiving incoming texts through Facebook Messenger.
Those messages - under Chippin’s account - involved conversations about drug transactions.
"The overarching issue is, of course, where the Crown has established the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt," Gunn said.
"Many of the constituent elements of the offences here are not in dispute. Ultimately, with respect to the charge under the [Controlled Drugs and Substances Act], the only live issues are whether the Crown has established possession of the items by the accused and, if he did possess them, then for what purpose."
The judge noted an expert Crown witness - Cpl. Bradley Gallant of the Miramichi Police Force - testified what Fredericton officers found in Chippin’s hotel room was in keeping with drug-trafficking activity.
"There was little dispute in cross-examination with his evidence, though [defence counsel] Mr. Adams did explore the possibility that a user might buy large amounts to get a better price," Gunn wrote in his decision.
The theoretical roommate
Gunn said the defendant testified at trial, stating the drugs weren’t his but rather belonged to Eddie Sivret Jr.
The defendant claimed he and Sivret shared the room, that Sivret had agreed to pay for half of Chippin’s hotel room in exchange for using it as something of an occasional base of operations, the judge said.
Chippin denied any involvement in drug trafficking or specific knowledge of Sivret’s activities.
“Oh, I didn’t care where he sold drugs. I didn’t pay attention to that. Wasn’t my problem,” Gunn said, quoting Chippin’s testimony.
Court heard Sivret died later in 2021.
Chippin testified he never gave Sivret explicit permission to sell drugs from his room, but he admitted that he bought drugs from him.
"Mr. Chippin indicated that Mr. Sivret would get drugs delivered to him," Gunn said.
As for the Facebook Messenger communications, Chippin attributed those to Sivret as well.
"With respect to the messages on the computer, he decried any knowledge of the individuals on the messages and suggested that Mr. Sivret used his computer," the judge said.
"He said the conversations were not ones he recalled having. He said 'he's logged in as me,' and explained that Mr. Sivret and his brother Cory Sivret would just log in under anyone's name."
Chippin testified he turned a blind eye to what Eddie Sivret was doing, adding he was high on meth a lot of the time.
"He was giving me such a cheap price. Why did I care?" the defendant testified.
The judge found Chippin had constructive possession of the drugs, as they were in his hotel room.
"Courts have held that where an accused occupies a room, an apartment or a house where narcotics are found, a judge may be justified in inferring that this person knew of the presence of narcotics and that he exercised control over them," Gunn said.
But then there's the issue of the intent to possess them for the purpose of trafficking.
The judge noted that the drugs were found in various spots in the room in pre-packaged baggies and other containers, and there's no way Chippin could have overlooked that.
"The evidence of knowledge here is simply overwhelming," Gunn said.
Furthermore, he said he didn't believe Chippin's testimony that the drugs belonged to Sivret. The defendant was evasive when questioned on cross-examination, the judge said.
"He refused to acknowledge things initially put to him even when the answer might be patently obvious or with which he might later grudgingly agree," Gunn said, noting he didn't give the impression of truthfulness and his evidence made little sense.
There was no evidence Sivret was Chippin's roommate at the hotel, he said.
"The search here revealed copious indications of Mr. Chippin's occupation of the room," the judge said. "There was nothing to suggest that Mr. Sivret was a co-occupant."
The other problem with the defence, he said, is even if the court accepted what Chippin said as being true, his version of events still pointed to his guilt.
"He allowed Mr. Sivret to possess drugs in a room he rented, that he accepted money from Mr. Sivret for co-occupance with knowledge of what he was doing," Gunn said.
"Mr. Chippin's testimony establishes a textbook example of both constructive possession and joint possession."
The judge said he was satisfied the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt Chippin possessed the meth for the purpose of trafficking.
Defence lawyer Joshua Adams requested a pre-sentence report, and Gunn ordered it and scheduled Chippin’s sentencing hearing for Nov. 27.
He’s also due to be sentenced at that time for other offences: a July 5, 2021, breach of a police undertaking requiring him to reside at a McGee Street home in Lincoln and to observe a curfew there; and simple possession of cocaine and meth in Fredericton on May 19, 2021.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
Hiding in plain sight
Finding drugs at the Days Inn. Hard to believe. :-)