Drug dealer is no-show for sentencing
Fredericton police witnessed Christopher James Arbeau, 45, selling drugs twice in 2021
A Fredericton man who sold crystal meth outside a drug-rehab facility downtown in 2021 was scheduled to be sentenced Monday, but he wasn’t present when his case was called.
Christopher James Arbeau, 45, of Brookside Drive, pleaded guilty in Fredericton provincial court earlier this year to three counts of possessing illicit, hard drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
The case was set down for sentencing Monday afternoon, but when Judge Scott Brittain called the case, defence lawyer Edward Derrah was on hand, but his client was not.
Brittain noted the sentencing had previously been adjourned to allow Arbeau to get a pre-sentence report, and that document was prepared and filed with the court.
At the request of the prosecution, the judge issued a warrant for Arbeau’s arrest.
Earlier this year, court heard officers with the Fredericton Police Force’s drug section had Arbeau under surveillance in 2021 as he was a target in ongoing trafficking investigations.
Police followed a car in which Arbeau was a passenger on Jan. 19, 2021, to a northside parking lot where they saw Arbeau engage in a drug transaction with an unknown male who’d gotten into the car.
Officers surrounded the vehicle and searched Arbeau, finding more than 50 grams of crystal meth, four hydromorphone capsules, other drugs and $2,185 in cash.
Police busted him trafficking in drugs again months later after he’d been released on conditions, court heard, when he was observed by an officer outside the River Stone Recovery Centre on King Street selling drugs to a known addict.
Again, Arbeau was arrested and searched, and police found crystal meth, clonazepam pills, meth pipes and $175 cash on him.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.