Prison time for repeat drug offender
Jason Clarence Martin, 52, of Fredericton, busted last year selling cocaine, meth out of his car while carrying loaded 22-calibre pen gun
A Fredericton drug dealer caught with cocaine, meth and other hard drugs in his car also had a loaded 22-calibre pen gun on his person when he was arrested, court heard this week.
Jason Martin Clarence, 52, of no fixed address, appeared in Fredericton provincial court Tuesday by video from jail for his sentencing hearing for numerous drug and firearm crimes.
He’d previously pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine, cocaine, oxycodone, hydromorphone, alprazolam and clonazepam, all for the purpose of trafficking, as well as to possessing a loaded, prohibited pen gun without a licence and violating a court-ordered ban from possessing firearms.
The crimes all occurred the afternoon of Dec. 21 in uptown Fredericton, said Crown prosecutor Darlene Blunston, but the arrest and bust arose months before.
She said the Fredericton Police Force’s drug and organized crime unit launched an investigation into Martin in September after receiving information from multiple sources that he was trafficking in cocaine and meth.
The prosecutor said officers eventually secured a search warrant for Martin’s vehicle, and at 3:20 p.m. Dec. 21, they located him and the car uptown.
“He was in the parking lot of the Shoppers Drug Mart on Prospect Street,” she said.
Officers surrounded the vehicle and blocked it in, court heard, and executed the warrant while Martin was detained.
The defendant had crystal meth, a wallet and a meth pipe on his person, Blunston said.
As officers searched him, they noted he had a pen on the collar of his shirt, she said, but he warned them it was no ordinary pen.
“Be careful of that, that’s a loaded 22,” Martin told police at the time.
It turned out to be a pen gun, loaded with a single live 22-calibre bullet.
“I’ve never heard of that firearm,” said Judge Natalie LeBlanc.
In the car, the prosecutor said, police found 39.6 grams of meth, 20.1 g of cocaine, 29 hydromorphone capsules, 10 oxycodone pills, 89 clonazepam pills and 19 alprazolam pills, the estimated street value of which was $7,394.
Also found in the car was $1,900 in Canadian cash, court heard, as well as clear dime bags used in drug trafficking and a scale.
Blunston filed a copy of Martin’s prior criminal history, highlighting the fact he was convicted in 2018 for possessing hard drugs for the purpose of trafficking, for which he was sentenced to prison time.
For these latest offences, she asked the court to impose a prison term of 6½ to seven years.
Defence lawyer Doug Smith said his client was asking the court to impose a couple of years less than the Crown’s recommendation.
He argued the court needed to consider the mitigating factors in the case, which include Martin’s guilty pleas, remorse, his own serious drug problem and a troubled background.
“He had a rather unstable abusive upbringing,” Smith said.
Martin apologized for his actions and said he’s reached out to drug-rehab facilities to deal with his substance-abuse issues once he’s served his time.
But LeBlanc said Crown’s submissions on sentence were on point, given Martin’s record and “the dangerous combination of drugs and guns, especially a loaded gun.”
She said she needs to send a message - both to Martin and to others in the drug trade - that such crimes won’t be tolerated.
“Mr. Martin has to stop earning his living by selling illicit substances,” the judge said.
LeBlanc imposed a 6½-year prison sentence, reduced to credit the offender with time he’s already served since his arrest.
The judge also ordered him to submit a DNA sample for inclusion in a criminal database, barred him from possessing firearms and other weapons for life, and ordered the pen gun, drugs, cash and other items seized forfeited to the Crown.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.