Summerside man sentenced to 28 months in jail after pleading guilty to drug offence

A Summerside man has been sentenced to a little more than two years in jail after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Sheldon Blake Collicutt, 31, pleaded guilty to the charge earlier this week and was sentenced on Friday.

In her remarks, Supreme Court Justice Terri MacPherson spoke of the seriousness of the charge.

“Not only does the drug trade negatively affect those personally involved in using drugs and their families, the damage and risks to our community as a whole cannot be overstated.”

Before he was taken into custody, the judge spoke directly to the accused.

“Mr. Cullicutt, the community deserves better than this from you, so take that under advisement while you have some time on your hands.”

Collicutt and a female co-accused were originally charged on April 25, 2017, when members of the joint Prince County police drug unit raided a home on Notre Dame Street in Summerside. The home was across the street from the Summerside Boys and Girls Club. Inside, police found 53 grams of cocaine, 41 grams of benzocaine mixed with cocaine, 1.6 pounds of cutting agent, a DIY cocaine press, scales, debt sheets, cellphones and cash. There was also two children home at the time.

Both of the accused had originally pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, and opted for a jury trial in Supreme Court.

On March 12 the court went through the process of selecting 12 jurors, but before the trial could start the next day, Collicutt changed his plea to guilty to a single count of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. All other the charges against him and his co-accused were dropped.

Crown attorney Chris White outlined a number of factors that he said should be considered aggravating in this case, including the amount of and type of drug in question, the fact that there were children in the home and the proximity of Collicutt’s home to the Boys and Girls Club.

Collicutt’s defence lawyer, Robert Rideout, said his client has an addictions problem himself, though he has taken steps to address it. Rideout argued that most of the drugs found in the home were for personal use.

“We’re dealing with someone with an addiction, not a commercial operation,” said Rideout.

He also pointed out that Collicutt has no related criminal record, and no weapons were involved in this case.

Collicutt addressed the court, apologized for his actions and expressed his desire to get healthy.

Ultimately MacPherson sentenced Collicutt to 28 months in jail, forbid him from owning weapons for 10 years, issued a DNA sample request, forfeited the items seized during the police raid and ordered him to pay a $200 victim surcharge.

[email protected]

@JournalPMacLean