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Guy Thinks its ok to Traffic Cocaine

SYDNEY — A Westmount father who entered the drug trade to save enough money to put a basement in his home was sent to prison for almost five years Wednesday.

Neil Douglas MacIntyre, 40, told the crowded courtroom he now knows he made a mistake.

"It was a stupid idea," he said, moments before Judge Peter Ross sentenced him to five years for possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and a concurrent two years for possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

"I got myself into this and now I have to pay for it."

Mr. MacIntyre pleaded guilty to the two charges in April after more than $227,000 worth of marijuana and pure cocaine was seized from the family car and Stirling Street home.

A blond woman, believed to be Mr. MacIntyre’s wife, rocked back and forth throughout the hour-long sentence hearing. Red splotches marked her eyes and her mouth hung open in a silent cry.

When the sentence was handed down, the woman leapt up and asked a sheriff’s deputy if she could speak with Mr. MacIntyre.

She started sobbing when the man was led from court before she could get to the front of the room.

Family members supported her shaking frame as they led her outside.

Judge Ross said Wednesday that while he applauds Mr. MacIntyre for taking responsibility for his actions, "the overwhelming evidence" against the accused made his guilty plea almost inevitable.

Cape Breton Regional Police seized about 510 grams of cocaine from Mr. MacIntyre’s family car during a raid March 25. The drug squad found more than eight kilograms of marijuana in a duffel bag in the master bedroom and in the garage at 14 Stirling St. Mr. MacIntyre, his wife and five children live in the home.

The search also turned up about $7,000 in cash, drug profits intended to finance basement renovations, said defence lawyer Nash Brogan.

Mr. MacIntyre made about $2,000 each month for letting drug dealers use his property as a "drop zone," Crown attorney Dave Iannetti said.

The effects of drug trafficking ripple through the court system, Judge Ross said in his sentencing, noting that a man in his 20s appeared in court earlier in the day because his drug addiction had alienated him from his family and gotten him in trouble with the law.

"It poisons the life of this community," the judge said. "There are people, many of them young people, who are in here . . . committing robberies to get money to purchase (drugs).

"Those who profit from this misery are to be dealt with harshly by the courts."

Mr. Iannetti asked for a total sentence of six years in a federal prison. Mr. MacIntyre may not have been distributing the drugs himself, the federal Crown lawyer said, but he still acted as a linchpin in the area’s drug trade.

Mr. Brogan argued that his client’s guilty plea and previously spotless criminal record should be considered when crafting the sentence.

Mr. MacIntyre will forfeit the drugs and money seized by police