Drug dealer prepared for anything

Drugs, weapons, cash, and a list of names owing money

Mr. Justice Fred Ferguson has been prosecuting and trying criminal offences in Miramichi for 46 years, first as a Crown lawyer , then a Provincial Court Judge, and now as a Court of Queen’s Bench judge as he nears retirement. Ferguson presided over the sentencing of a man on Friday February 11th who had admitted drug trafficking, and Ferguson’s written decision on the matter is meant to send a message to would-be drug traffickers that their actions hurt families and the community of Miramichi, and will have harsher consequences going forward. Surely, a 5.5 year sentence for being engaged in a low to mid-level wholesale drug enterprise will deter others.

Ferguson wrote: “The parties do not dispute that methamphetamine use in this judicial district, where I have been a resident judge for 18 years, is problematic. Our criminal and family courts are filled with cases involving its use, its trafficking, and the human toll addiction to the drug has on individuals and their families. On literally a weekly basis I am asked to adjudicate on Ministerial child protection cases in which the most predominant factor is far too often long term addiction to hard drugs such as methamphetamine.”

He added that it is common that temporary custody or guardianship is interrupted or extinguished due to parental addiction to methamphetamine and other types of hard drugs.

“It is my firm belief, having watched the societal landscape change over a lengthy period of time, that methamphetamine poses as serious a risk as cocaine in any form. Moreover, it is dangerously cheap to buy and that fact alone poses a serious danger to the segment of the drug addicted and vulnerable public who are without financial means to buy more expensive illicit drugs such as cocaine. Its ability to takeover an addicted person’s lifestyle and world is indisputable.”

Until a recent Supreme Court case called R v Parranto, there was no starting point for sentences for people convicted of trafficking serious drugs. Sentencing patterns were set differently in each jurisdiction with no guidance from the Supreme Court. In Parranto, the Supreme Court weighed in on the criminal sentences of two drug traffickers in Alberta who were convicted of dealing fentanyl and heroin. In the process the Court made powerful statements about individualized sentences, the power of provincial appeal courts and the future of criminal sentencing. (Read more about R v Parranto : LINK)

The dealer, the arrest, the search and seizure

Eric Mazzerolle, 40 of Moncton, was stopped by MPF in January 2021 as he entered Miramichi heading north from Moncton based on a tip from the RCMP about an erratic driver. Police spotted an open knife and pill bottle on the front seat of the car, and arrested him immediately. Mazerolle was searched and some drugs were found in his pockets, for which he claimed he had a prescription. A cursory search of the car was performed and in addition to the knife, a machete was found within reach of the driver’s seat, a taser, and a collapsible baton that could also deliver a shock such as a cattle prod. Police were unable to find a prescription as Mazerolle had indicated.  

The car was filled with stuff, and it was towed and a search warrant was obtain to search the car further. Police called in Mazerolle’s info and learned he was prohibited from possessing weapons.

The search of the car yielded the following: $7485 in cash in big bills; some containers of money (coins), various iPads and cell phones, drug paraphernalia such as spoons, dime bags, and digital scales. Police also recovered 85 grams of crystal meth (850 street level portions when packaged), 72 ICE tablets (meth), and 113 hydromorphone capsules of various strengths. The estimated total street value of all the drugs was $8174.

Another piece of damning evidence found in the car was a “scoresheet”, Mazerolle’s record of who owed him money. The sheet had 20 names on it, and was entitled “Money Owed!”. The names on the list were not shared in the sentencing ruling, but Ferguson said that many of the names were nicknames, and there was no value in sharing them. The amounts owing to Mazerolle ranged from $90 to $3500. The total amount Mazerolle was hoping to collect was $20,200.

Having experience in the drug trade, Ferguson said that with the machete and the other weapons, Mazerolle was armed with sufficient enforcement power to deal with whatever came his way. The Court in Parranto talked about how drug trafficking contributes to a host of other ills including an increase in all manner of crimes committed by people seeking to finance their addictions. Much of the criminal activity is violent, and therefore trafficking is considered a violent crime, and carries the potential of a life sentence. It is estimated that in 2017 cocaine and opioid abuse had a $9.6 billion cost to Canadians. (Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms (2015 - 2017 at page 1)

Who is Eric Mazerolle?

Mazerolle has been living at a boarding house for the past several years in Moncton. He is 40 years old, and has lived in many places in eastern New Brunswick from Bathurst to Moncton. He has a grade 8 education, and has worked as a lifeguard at Kouchibouguac and as a technician repairing phones. He has three children including twin girls who are now adults. He stands about 5’1” and has a stocky build, a strong jaw and largish hooking nose. He had a short haircut and a goatee when he was in court on February 11th, and looked much healthier than he did in the appearances he made in the weeks after his arrest when he looked quite thin and ragged. He had a bail hearing in front of Justice Ferguson at which he faked a wrist injury with a homemade splint and bandage made from a bed sheet, and complained of not getting pain medical attention or prescribed drugs while he was in jail.

Mazerolle contended the drugs found in his car were for personal use, but a report by an expert in drug trafficking investigations was of the opinion that Mazerolle was participating in a commercial enterprise.

Mazerolle does have legitimate health issues, as he was in a serious accident in Bathurst in 2011 when he was the passenger in a taxi. Mazerolle’s addiction to opiates began after the car accident. Mazerolle sued for his injuries and told the court he received a settlement of $108,000 in 2019. He said he paid his lawyer $40,000, bought a car and a few other things, and had about $28,000 leftover. Mazerolle claimed the $7485 found in his car in big bills was part of that settlement, and not money used in the drug trade. He said the other $20,000 was entrusted with a friend, but refused to divulge the name of the friend as he said he wasn’t a “rat”.  

Mazerolle admitted that he possessed the meth for the purpose of trafficking. He admitted possessing the weapons for dangerous purposes and while being prohibited to do so. He admitted possessing the hydromorphone knowing it was illegal to do so without a prescription. He said he pleaded guilty to these crimes because he had no other option, though Ferguson conducted a thorough inquiry and deemed his guilty pleas voluntary and informed.

Because Mazerolle disagreed that the money found in the car was gained in the drug trade, a hearing on the facts was held. The Crown never countered Mazerolle’s claim about the insurance settlement, and Mazerolle’s lawyer, Tim Murphy, even offered to have the settlement lawyer (Murphy’s father Mike) testify to the issue. Because the Crown never countered the claim, the money that was seized will be returned to Mazerolle eventually.

But during the hearing on the facts, Mazeroille admitted he had been dealing drugs for about 6 years. Ferguson was specific in his sentencing ruling that only the crimes of January 2021 would be considered. Ferguson said the admission would form part of his consideration of Mazerolle’s potential for rehabilitation. Mazerolle’s previous criminal record would also be considered.

Not his first rodeo

Mazerolle’s criminal record started when he was about 20 years old, and totals 34 convictions. He has a previous trafficking conviction from 2008 for which he received a 12 month house arrest sentence. A few months later he received a 6 months jail sentence for possessing drugs. He has convictions for thefts, weapons, mischief, fraud and breaches. The longest period of time he spent in jail was 345 days in 2015 for a variety of offences he committed in Bathurst.

Ferguson said Mazerolle’s admissions of trafficking for the past 6 years, along with his criminal record, was important when combined with the type and quantity of drugs, and Mazerolle’s organized operation which included debt collection and weapons. The Crown was asking for 3 to 5 years, but after Mazerolle’s admission of trafficking for a longer period of time, the Crown felt Ferguson should consider an even longer term of jail based on his record and admissions.  

The sentence

Over the past several years in Miramichi, the default sentence for first time traffickers has been 2 years. There are examples of lighter sentences, but for the most part 2 years has been the norm. People convicted of subsequent trafficking charges have received longer sentences. (See Mason Coughlan - 30 months , Christopher Frank Larry - 57 months )

Ferguson said that denunciation and deterrence are paramount in sentencing, but he conceded that a long sentence for Mazerolle would not yield immediate general deterrence.

“Only the naive would believe that if a lengthy term of imprisonment was imposed upon Mr. Mazerolle it would have a direct and wide impact on those who traffic in hard drugs in this province. Yet, each time a significant sentence is imposed upon those who traffic in hard drugs a message is sent that courts are not going to turn a blind eye to this serious problem and the consequent social havoc hard drug traffickers wreak on society. Protection of the public demands that courts continue to take a very dim view of such behaviour. While proportionality must take into primary account parity and the individualization of the sentencing process, that must all be done in the context of the changing sentencing landscape recognized by the Supreme Court.”

Ferguson listed several cases that have taken its direction from Parranto, thus cementing the effect the ruling will have in New Brunswick.

Mazerolle was sentenced to 5.5 years, and will get 19 months of remand credit, leaving a little less than 4 years left to serve.