Meth dealer asks for house arrest
Crown argues for prison term of more than 3½ years for Lawrence (Larry) Steven Chippin, 62, of Fredericton, noting he committed further crimes following conviction after trial
Defence counsel for Lawrence (Larry) Steven Chippin argued Monday his client’s community activism and safety concerns merit a community-based sentence for drug-trafficking and other crimes.
But the prosecution said Chippin’s peddling of crystal meth merits a stint in federal prison because the insidious drug “leaves a trail of destruction” through that same community.
Chippin, 62, formerly of Dundonald Street in Fredericton, appeared in Fredericton provincial court Monday for a sentencing hearing.
He was convicted after trial last year of possessing meth for the purpose of trafficking.
Evidence at the trial showed members of the Fredericton Police Force executed a search warrant at Room 221 of the Days Inn on Prospect Street on July 30, 2021.
Chippin was living in that motel room at the time, and he was present when officers showed up on that date.
Police found a significant quantity of crystal meth in the room, as well as dime baggies, scoresheets and digital scales, court heard, and Chippin’s laptop was also found to have online messaging threads that showed he was selling meth.
The offender denied he possessed the drugs, pointing the finger instead at Eddie Sivret Jr.
He testified Sivret paid for part of the motel room so he could run his drug trade out of there. Chippin claimed he just bought drugs from Sivret, who died later in 2021.
Judge Cameron Gunn said Chippin admitted in his own testimony to having constructive possession of the crystal meth found in the room and would be guilty as charged in that respect, but he rejected the defendant’s claim that he was a bystander.
The judge ruled Chippin had true possession of the drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
More drug crimes and multiple breaches
The offender was also in court Monday to be sentenced on other charges to which he’d previously pleaded guilty: May 19, 2021, counts of simple possession of cocaine and meth; and a July 5, 2021, breach of a police undertaking that required him to reside at a McGee Street home in Lincoln; and yet another breach of conditions May 20, 2022.
Furthermore, Chippin pleaded guilty Monday to Oct. 4 counts of possessing meth and breaching a release order to reside at a Dundonald Street apartment, and a Nov. 25 breach of the same release order.
Crown prosecutor Rodney Jordan said that the May 19, 2021, charges arose after Fredericton police officers surveilled him and Kim Somers, also known in the local drug trade, in a commercial parking lot at about 6:45 p.m. on that date.
Officers observed the pair engage in what appeared to be a drug transaction and swooped in to arrest them.
Chippin was found to have 13.47 grams of crystal meth and 6.78 grams of cocaine, the prosecutor said, and officers also found a black scale in his car.
“Mr. Chippin uttered that all of the drugs were his and that Kim Somers had nothing to do with them,” Jordan said.
He said Chippin presents with a prior criminal record for drug possession and breach of conditions, but those date back to 2012.
Mitigating factors in the offender’s favour, the Crown said, were guilty pleas on many of the lesser charges and a limited criminal record.
But Jordan urged the court to give greater weight to the aggravating factors. He noted Chippin was found in possession of a significant amount of crystal meth on two occasions and cocaine on one, and that he was arrested while awaiting trial and again while awaiting sentencing.
More importantly, the prosecutor said, crystal meth has become far more prevalent in the capital region in recent years and “leaves a trail of destruction” in its wake.
“There was a big potential for profit, and the accused was a part of that operation,” Jordan said.
He pointed out the New Brunswick Court of Appeal has directed that those trafficking in hard drugs such as meth and cocaine can expect to serve federal-prison sentences, even for first-time offenders.
Jordan asked the court to impose an overall sentence of 44½ months in prison, less credit for time spent on remand since early December.
He also asked the court to impose orders requiring Chippin to submit a DNA sample for inclusion in a criminal database, prohibiting him from possessing firearms and other weapons for 10 years following his sentence and directing the forfeiture of items seized from Chippin’s motel room in 2021.
Lobbying for leniency
Defence counsel Joshua Adams urged Gunn to consider his client’s community activism and his own drug addiction in crafting a sentence focused on rehabilitation.
He recommended a conditional sentence, to be served in the community under house arrest.
If the court deems a community-based sentence to be inappropriate in the circumstances, the defence lawyer said, it should impose a minimal federal sentence of 26 months in prison.
“Mr. Chippin is an active community volunteer,” Adams said, noting that his client’s pre-sentence report bears that out with input from the offender’s rabbi.
Chippin himself touted his work through Facebook groups he established that focus on missing persons in the region as well as crime.
Before he was remanded late last year, Chippin was active on Facebook such groups Missing & Unsolved New Brunswick and NB Proud. Most of his posts in those groups push for stronger action on missing-persons investigations, murder cases and policing.
Adams said his client is also concerned for his safety in prison as a result of that online activism, suggesting his posts irk an element that could do him harm.
But Jordan countered that the prison system is no stranger to safety concerns among inmates and can address them. He also noted that in his pre-sentence report, Chippin reported he has health issues that could decline behind bars, but again, that’s something for the correctional system and the Parole Board of Canada can address.
Adams argued Chippin was far from the most egregious drug offender and that he was involved in the trade to feed his own habit.
“Mr. Chippin was far from being a drug kingpin in the city,” he said, adding what police found in that motel room was not a sophisticated criminal operation.
“It also had to do with Mr. Chippin’s own drug problem.”
Gunn asked Adams how he could reconcile the request for a conditional sentence with the direction from the Court of Appeal regarding prison terms for drug dealers.
The defence lawyer said Chippin’s specific circumstances were sufficient to merit the community-based sentence, which is still available under the law despite the higher court’s decisions on drug cases.
Jordan said the Crown specifically opposes a conditional sentence in the case, and Gunn noted that the fact Chippin accumulated offences after his conviction at trial was a concern regarding his ability to follow the conditions of such a sentence.
Chippin apologized for those many breaches, but he also tried to offer excuses, minimizing them, blaming car troubles and arguing that police knew where he was living even after he left the Dundonald Street apartment without varying his release order.
He pleaded with the court to grant a community-based sentence, noting that the families of the missing persons his Facebook group reports on are suffering because he’s unable to manage it and craft new posts.
Gunn reserved his decision on sentence to Jan. 25 and remanded Chippin again until that time.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
They let a worse than Larry out and he has to make a living poisoning the streets but he would reoffend in short time and then get his federal vacation just saying...