CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man who dropped a bag of drugs in a Charlottetown pub’s stairwell was sentenced recently to 13 months in jail.
Jacob Patrick Rushford appeared before Judge Jeff Lantz in provincial court in Charlottetown for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to possessing drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
Federal Crown attorney Andrea Leclair Shefler told the court that in October, Charlottetown police were called to a pub after a bag fell out of Rushford’s pocket in a stairwell.
The court heard staff recovered several small bags of white powder.
Leclair-Shefler said the police seized the drugs, which were divided into multiple baggies, and $830 in cash.
She also told the court the police obtained a warrant and found about a dozen text messages on Rushford’s phone that were related to drug trafficking.
Defence lawyer Issac Quinn told the court Rushford spent up to $1,000 a week on drugs and was dealing to feed his addiction.
Rushford has since been going to Narcotics Anonymous, meeting with an addiction counsellor and seeing a certified life coach, Quinn said.
The court heard Rushford has been drug-free for five months.
Before hearing his sentence, Rushford addressed the court, saying he was embarrassed and ashamed he ended up at that point in his life.
Rushford said he wants to work on continuing to be sober, put the incident behind him and be a better person.
With the jail time, Rushford will be on probation for two years after his release, he will be subject to a 10-year weapons prohibition and he must provide a DNA sample for the national databank.
