Dylan Marshall was a hung driver behind the wheel of a vehicle with two different license plates when city police stopped him on a downtown street one summer day two years ago. The 30-year-old Sault Ste. Marie Man had an outstanding warrant for possession of stolen property, Ontario Court Justice Romuald Kwolek heard Monday. But the officers’ July 13, 2020, traffic stop resulted in another type of traffic charge — federal drug offenses that resulted in a prison sentence. Marshall pleaded guilty to possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking and breach of probation. He was also convicted of Provincial Offenses Act offenses of driving while suspended and operating a vehicle without insurance in connection with the King Street incident. When officers stopped the defendant, they found Marshall had a cylinder containing fentanyl tied around his neck, federal prosecutor Ben Pritchard told the court. They also discovered a digital scale, a plastic baggie with seven grams of meth, more fentanyl and $690 in cash in the vehicle. A total of 16 grams of fentanyl was seized, Pritchard said. At the time of Marshall’s arrest, the drugs were estimated to be worth between $12,000 and $2,700. A subsequent report by an Ontario Provincial Police expert on organized crime concluded that the quantity of drugs would be indicative of possession for the purpose of trafficking. The scale and cash supported that opinion, Pritchard said. Defense attorney Anthony Orazietti and the federal prosecutor jointly recommended that the defendant be sentenced to two and a half years in prison for the drug offenses, less credit for time spent behind bars since his arrest. To his credit, he faces another 274 days behind bars. Marshall also has a “prior record” of six prior misdemeanor convictions, Pritchard said. Orazietti said his client was subjected to a number of COVID-related lockdowns during his detention and “that’s part of the reason we reached this joint position.” Assistant Crown attorney Matthew Caputo requested the minimum fine of $1,000 for a POA violation involving driving while suspended. Marshall had previous driving suspensions from 2012 and 2013, he told the court. The district attorney also urged Kwolek to impose the mandatory minimum fine of $5,000 for the insurance offense. Orazietti asked the court to exercise its discretion and impose lesser fines. His client has been in custody since July 2021, has no income and the fines would put him in bankruptcy. He recommended that Marshall be fined $500 for driving without insurance and $200 for being behind the wheel while suspended. Marshall, who has worked primarily as a contract laborer, struggles with drug addiction, as do many before the court, the defense told Kwolek. During his detention, he participated in programming at the Algoma Treatment and Detention Center, Orazietti said. In imposing the recommended sentence on the drug-related charges, Kwolek said the court should consider whistleblowing and deterrence for such serious offences. He called the nature of these “dangerous drugs that often kill people” an aggravating factor. “Fentanyl has caused many deaths in our community” and across the country, the judge said. He cited Marshall’s guilty pleas as mitigating, also noting that COVID has caused a critical backlog in the courts. Kwolek said the defendant struggles with substance abuse and “got involved in something that kept him in prison for a long time.” Marshall can work, but he has to deal with his issues, the judge said. It reduced the mandatory fine for driving without insurance to $1,000 and the fine for driving while suspended to $200. Marshall had 36 months to serve the fines. He must also provide a DNA sample for the national database and is prohibited from owning weapons for 10 years. Kwolek also ordered the forfeiture of the drugs, cash, drug paraphernalia and two cellphones seized by police.
