A P.E.I. man who was caught with about 2,000 methamphetamine pills after he crashed a car on Christmas Eve was sentenced Friday to two years less a day in jail.
Lucas Edward Gauthier appeared before Judge John Douglas in provincial court in Charlottetown for sentencing on multiple charges, including several counts of possessing drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
Before sentencing Gauthier, Douglas said he was dealing a product that was causing a lot of harm to society.
The amount of pills Gauthier was caught with was an aggravating factor, and he was not a minor dealer, Douglas said.
“You were a major salesman for this destructive product.”
On Dec. 24, Gauthier was driving in the Riverdale area when the vehicle he was in left the road and went into a ditch.
A witness told police they saw Gauthier lying on the floor before he got out through the passenger-side window, went back into the vehicle, grabbed a backpack and fled into the woods.
An officer who responded to the crash saw more than 1,000 pills marked with “ICE” on them scattered throughout the vehicle.
One of the RCMP’s dog handlers found Gauthier waist deep in a river with his backpack in a nearby tree.
In total, the RCMP found about 2,000 methamphetamine pills in the vehicle, near it, on the way to the river and in Gauthier’s backpack.
The pills had an estimated street value of $9,500.
Gauthier was previously found guilty of charges that included four counts of possessing drugs for the purpose of trafficking after he was caught with methamphetamine and Percocet pills on two separate occasions.
He was also caught with bear spray, a collapsible baton and a replica Beretta pellet gun.
The sentence of two years less a day was a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence.
Gauthier forfeited almost $2,500 in cash the police seized.
Along with the jail time, Gauthier will be on probation for three years and must perform 60 hours of community service.
He must also provide a DNA sample for the national databank and will be under a weapons prohibition for 10 years.
