Contraband smokes smuggler jailed, fined
Blair Jean Carrier, 63, fled from cops, resisted arrest, and appeared to be drunk at the wheel second time he was arrested last year
A Lorne man busted with 30,000 illegal smokes in his car last year fled from police at high speeds and thrashed around when officers arrested him, a court heard Thursday.
Blair Jean Carrier, 63, Main Street in Lorne, appeared in Fredericton provincial court Thursday for a sentencing hearing on various criminal and tobacco charges, having previously pleaded guilty to those counts.
He admitted to possessing an excessive number of unmarked and unstamped cigarettes, resisting an RCMP officer, fleeing from police, escaping from lawful custody in Boiestown on Feb. 2, 2022, as well as resisting two Fredericton Police Force officers in Fredericton later that same day.
Carrier had also entered guilty pleas to April 26, 2022 counts of refusing a breath demand, resisting police and driving while suspended.
Crown prosecutor Nina Johnsen said the afternoon of Feb. 2, 2022, an RCMP officer clocked a vehicle in the Boiestown area at 138 kilometres per hour and pulled it over.
At the wheel, she said, was Carrier, who was identified from his driver’s licence.
Visible in the vehicle were two shopping bags full of cigarettes as well as a box covered with a towel, the prosecutor said, and the officer, who was experienced in dealing with contraband-cigarette operations, recognized what he had on his hands.
The officer directed Carrier to remain in his car, court heard, but Carrier got out and moved toward the Mountie aggressively, contrary to commands to remain in the vehicle.
Johnsen said the defendant told the officer, “I don’t give a fuck what you say. Fuck you.”
The officer told Carrier he was under arrest, court heard, but the defendant got back in his car and took off at high speeds, headed toward Fredericton.
Police received information that he was headed toward an address on Woodstock Road in Fredericton, Johnsen said, and city police officers were dispatched to that location.
They found the suspect vehicle in the driveway and encountered Carrier there, she said.
Those officers told Carrier he was under arrest, court heard, but he put up a fight.
“He was actively resisting police,” Johnsen said, noting Carrier thrashed about in an effort to stymie the officers’ search of his person incident to arrest.
Police noted there was a strong smell of liquor coming from his breath, the prosecutor said, and he tried to headbutt one of the officers as they tried to load him into the back of a police cruiser.
Once he was in the cop car, she said, officers made what’s known as the active offer for service in English or French, to which Carrier responded, “Fuck you, fuck you!”
“He was thrashing around in the back of the police vehicle, smashing his head into the plexiglass” as officers drove him to the police station, Johnsen said, and at one point, he tried to take out the rear window of the cruiser.
His belligerence continued at the police station that afternoon, she said.
Carrier was released on conditions, the prosecutor said, but came to the attention of the city police again April 26, 2022, when officers responded to an incident in the parking lot of the St. Mary’s Entertainment Centre.
Police found a vehicle stuck on a curb, court heard, and Carrier was driving.
Johnsen said he showed numerous signs of impairment by alcohol, including a smell of liquor, slurred speech and glossy eyes.
Once again, the offender got scrappy with police.
“He became combative with the other parties,” the prosecutor said.
In the process of being subdued by officers, she said, Carrier sustained a laceration over his right eye. At the police station, Johnsen said, he refused to provide a breath sample, and he was already a suspended driver at the time.
Carrier has a prior criminal history, she said, which includes a prior offence related to impaired driving.
Furthermore, court heard, Carrier had 30,000 illegal cigarettes in his car in Feb. 2, 2022, representing offences under the Excise Act and Tobacco Tax Act that called for hefty fines.
The Crown asked the court to impose an eight-month jail sentence plus fines totalling more than $50,000.
Defence lawyer Doug Smith said his client’s major issue is alcohol, but he’s also been diagnosed with depression, for which he’s taking medication.
Johnsen noted there was a gap in Carrier’s criminal record, which coincides with information in his pre-sentence report indicating he was on the wagon for several years.
“He had maintained sobriety for almost seven years,” she said.
Carrier apologized for his actions.
“I intend to stay off the liquor now,” he said.
“It’s staggering how bad the day went,” Judge Cameron Gunn said, referring to the events of Feb. 2, 2022, noting they just kept getting worse as the afternoon wore on.
The tobacco offences are serious, he said, but they really stem from government restrictions on the sale of certain products. Of greater concern, the judge said, was the incredibly dangerous conduct in which Carrier engaged after he was caught with the cigarettes.
Gunn said the positive pre-sentence report describes a different man than the one police officers had to deal with on the dates in question.
“Those are two obviously separate people,” he said.
“The magic bullet here is don’t drink.”
The judge imposed the requested eight-month stint behind bars as well as fines amounting to $50,982. Furthermore, he prohibited Carrier from driving for four years following his release from jail.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.