Iqaluit cocaine dealer found with $80K worth of drugs sentenced to 3 years in prison

An Iqaluit cocaine dealer has been sentenced to three years in prison, after a police search of his home in 2016 found nearly 400 grams of cocaine and $7,200 worth of drug money.

Justice Bonnie Tullochdelivered the sentence on Monday at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit. William Allen Pierce was arrested in August 2016 when he was 27. He is now 30 years old.

Mr. Pierce, it gives me nopleasureto send you to jail today.- Justice BonnieTulloch

An RCMP constable gave expert opinion, saying that in 2016 in Iqaluit, the amount of cocaine Pierce had in his home in the Tundra Valley neighbourhood was worth around $80,000, if sold individually by the gram.

"He has allowed his greed for money to overshadow his moral obligation to follow the law," Tulloch said in her decision.

Tulloch considered the unique circumstances surrounding Pierce's case, including his difficult childhood and the fact he sold drugs in Nunavut, where residents have no in-territory access to treatment centres.

The judgesaid her primary goal in sentencing Pierce was to deter others from traffickingcocaine, but she was impressed with his attempts to get his life back on track.

Getting life back on track

"Mr. Pierce, it gives me no pleasure to send you to jail today," Tullochtold Pierce, when delivering her decision.

"Without your guilty pleas and your rehabilitative efforts, the sentence would have been longer."

During his "lengthy period of time"on bail, Tulloch noted Pierce never breached his conditions and says he has stayed away from alcohol and drugs.

Pierce had been living in Iqaluit since 2011, but after his arrest he returned home to Manitoba to help support his parents and raise his daughter.

He has secured a job, which his employer submitted he could return to after he served his sentence.

Tulloch recommended he serve in a penitentiary in Manitoba, so his family could visit, which she said would help in his rehabilitation.

The judge decided on a sentence of three years. The defence had recommended between two and a half and three years and the Crown recommended between three and three and a half years as an appropriate sentence.

Pierce was given credit for three months of pretrial custody, so he has two years and nine months left to serve.

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