Five-and-a-half years for man charged in 2016 fentanyl bust

A man charged after what was then one of Edmonton’s largest ever fentanyl seizures was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison Thursday.

Christopher Jervis was charged with 12 offences after a 2016 Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) investigation turned up, among other things, 1,930 fentanyl pills.

Jervis, who was 28 at the time, eventually pleaded guilty to a single count of possession for the purpose of trafficking for his involvement in the wholesale operation. Police believed the pills came from British Columbia.

At the time, the seizure was the largest ever by ALERT’s Edmonton unit.

Thursday’s brief hearing before Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Terry Clackson focused on finding an appropriate sentence for fentanyl trafficking.

Federal Crown prosecutor Wayne Silliker with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said the Alberta court of appeal has yet to establish starting points or ranges for fentanyl trafficking sentences, which it has for other drugs like heroin, meth and cocaine.

He said heroin trafficking convictions typically start at five years in Alberta.

Silliker and defence counsel David Ibrahim agreed Jervis’s guilty plea was a mitigating factor that ought to shave time off his sentence. They settled on a joint sentencing submission of five-and-a-half years, which they said is on the low end.

Jervis was granted 60 days credit for time already spent in custody.

Ibrahim said Jervis has three young daughters and worked as a carpenter before being laid off in January. He added he is “extremely remorseful” and has since lost people close to him to overdose.

Jervis declined to address the court.

Fentanyl, an opioid used as a painkiller, was responsible for 746 fatal overdoses in Alberta last year.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

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