Drug trafficker ordered to forfeit $155K

Article content

An Upper Sackville man was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison after being caught trafficking drugs three times in less than three years.

Colt Denis LeBlanc, 39, was also ordered to forfeit $155,000 seized by police during the three separate investigations.

He made no comment to the court during his sentencing hearing in Moncton provincial court but defence lawyer Michel DesNeiges said his client has only been in trouble with the law in recent years.

“Things have gone sideways in the last few years,” the lawyer said.

LeBlanc was in court last month and pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine, methamphetamine and hydromorphone for trafficking on April 28, 2021, in Sackville, along with possessing a stolen motorcycle and binoculars and having a prohibited Taser.

LeBlanc also pleaded guilty to having coke and meth for trafficking in Moncton on Feb. 24, 2022, along with having more than $5,000 in cash obtained through crime. The Crown withdrew a money laundering charge in that case.

And he pleaded guilty to having coke and meth to traffic on Nov. 22, 2023, having restricted firearms without a licence, having a pistol while prohibited by court order and obstructing police.

He’s been in remand for a few months and the court credited him with having already served 161 days of his sentence.

DesNeiges said LeBlanc will take advantage of programs offered at the federal prison and won’t waste his time while he does his sentence.

Federal prosecutor Nathalie Lajoie told the court LeBlanc came to the RCMP’s attention in April 2021 when they received complaints someone was pointing a laser at airplanes and residences in the Sackville area. A search warrant was executed at LeBlanc’s Haute Aboujagane Road residence on April 28 and during the investigation a large amount of cash and drugs were discovered, along with stolen property and a Taser.

Lajoie said that on Feb. 24, 2022, police got a tip LeBlanc was selling drugs out of a car. They put him under surveillance, followed him and intercepted him at the Walmart in the Mapleton Road area of Moncton. LeBlanc was arrested and dropped a knife while being forcefully removed from the car. He had a large amount of cash and drugs on him, court heard.

The driver was also arrested and charged with the same offences as LeBlanc, but Cheryl Lynn Trenholm, 28, of Sackville, eventually pleaded guilty only to meth possession. She got a three-month conditional sentence order and her lawyer told the court she was an addict who was being exploited to drive LeBlanc around.

Lajoie said the final incident was on Nov. 22, 2023, when police executed a search warrant on a Pond Shore Road home in Sackville, arresting LeBlanc, seizing nine firearms including a handgun, large amounts of drugs and almost $100,000 in cash.