Drug suspect who pleaded guilty changes tune
Lawrence O’Neil Bowmaster, 46, of Moncton, had already agreed he’d possessed fentanyl and cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in Fredericton two years ago
A Fredericton judge told a Moncton man Friday that his bid to withdraw his guilty pleas to drug crimes will be an uphill battle.
Lawrence O’Neil Bowmaster, 46, of Mountain Road in Moncton, was scheduled for sentencing Friday, as he’d previously pleaded guilty to several charges expected to lead to a federal prison term.
Those charges included possessing fentanyl, cocaine and hydromorphone, all for the purpose of trafficking; as well as driving while impaired by drugs, possessing the proceeds of crime (less than $5,000 in cash) and driving while suspended, all on July 7, 2021.
However, as the proceedings convened in his case, duty counsel Melinda Ponting-Moore told court Bowmaster was seeking to withdraw his guilty pleas.
Judge Cameron Gunn said that won’t be a simple matter.
“The facts were already heard and agreed to,” he said.
That means at a previous appearance in the case, the prosecutor had read the details of the offences onto the court record, and Bowmaster had acknowledged on the record that he’d committed the crimes.
The facts of those offences weren’t reiterated at Friday’s court appearance.
Gunn said a hearing would have to be held during which Bowmaster would have to show why he should be allowed to withdraw his previous pleas.
He said it would happen in short order, as the case has been dragging on for far too long. The judge scheduled the plea hearing for June 1.
Bowmaster said he wanted to retain counsel to help him with the hearing. Gunn said he had a few weeks to find a lawyer, but that the proceeding would go ahead with or without defence counsel.
“You’ve already agreed to the facts here, so your hill’s going to be harder to climb,” the judge told the defendant Friday.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.