A man arrested for trafficking carfentanil and methamphetamine was sentenced to four years in jail by a B.C. Supreme Court judge in Nanaimo.
Christopher Aaron Tomczyk, 41 at the time of his sentencing last month, was arrested in December 2016 and subsequently charged with possessing methamphetamine, carfentanil and cannabis for the purpose of trafficking, along with possessing psilocybin (magic mushrooms). The latter two charges were subsequently dropped by Crown counsel.
Judge Peter Voith sentenced Tomczyk to one year in jail for the methamphetamine offences and four years concurrent for the carfentanil-related charges. The sentencing was July 16 but the court documents were more recently released.
According to Voith’s ruling, police suspected Tomczyk was dealing drugs from his trailer and motorhome and executed a three-night surveillance operation. In that time, “several dozen individuals, a number of whom were known to be drug users, entered and then exited Mr. Tomczyk’s motorhome after brief periods of time.”
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Tomczyk was arrested and found to be in possession of more than three grams of carfentanil and eight grams of methamphetamine, with respective street values of $310 and $640.
Tomczyk has a lengthy criminal record with prior drug trafficking convictions and according to the ruling, he confessed to trafficking narcotics for a year after being arrested for the most current offences. Other offences include assault and assault with a weapon.
Tomczyk had a hard upbringing, according to the ruling, as his father left home when he was a child, his mother “was an alcoholic” and he was in foster care a number of times. Evidence suggests he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and has taken Ritalin for numerous years.
Voith ruled that Tomczyk’s continued trafficking following his arrest called into question his remorse and cited a pre-sentence report, where Tomczyk said he sold drugs to “help people out” and he wasn’t “a bad dealer,” which Voith said displayed a “striking lack of insight.”
Tomczyk had previously questioned the legality of his arrest, but after a separate four-day voir dire hearing in February, Voith deemed it legal.