As a trial was about to begin for a cocaine dealer in Simcoe’s Ontario Court recently, an agreement was made for him to plead guilty as opposed to his counsel challenging potential problems with his arrest.
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John W. Baverstock, 42, was released after serving the equivalent of 18 months in jail for the possession of cocaine for trafficking purposes.
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“This is on the extreme low end of the range (for cocaine trafficking),” said federal prosecutor Kevin McGilly.
“You could even say it’s outside the range. But there were issues about the stop and arrest of Mr. Baverstock – a (potentially) warrantless search and a delay in contacting counsel – that has raised a number of problems.”
Once officially raised, the Crown recognized the charter issues had the potential of derailing a conviction and made a deal for Baverstock to plead guilty.
Baverstock, his girlfriend and another man were arrested in March 2023 in the Woodhouse area after an investigation by the Norfolk OPP street crime unit.
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Police found a backpack associated with Baverstock in the Jeep containing $7,000 in currency and 109.7 grams of cocaine.
He was held in custody due to his record, which includes most recently, assault, weapons offense and driving while prohibited convictions in December 2022 when he was sentenced to almost six months of time served and placed on probation
Baverstock’s lawyer said his story is an unusual one since he was a hard-working father of two grown children before getting involved in drugs.
“He leaned a little too much on alcohol, which moved into crack cocaine and lost his job in 2018,” said Geneviève Eliany.
She noted that Baverstock planned to live in Waterford, which she thought would help him detach from Simcoe crime circles.
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Justice Robert Gee accepted the 18-month joint submission for a sentence but warned Baverstock that he could have been looking at a “significant sentence” in prison without the plea deal.
“You’re now on the police radar and you’re going to get an eye kept on you.
“If you go back to dealing drugs again, it’s only a matter of time before you’re going to get caught. Obviously the police were tipped off to you by somebody, somewhere, somehow and they started doing surveillance on you.”
Gee also ordered that Baverstock supply a sample of his DNA for the national offenders databank and put him on a no-weapons order for life.
Charges involving the incident were withdrawn against Baverstock’s girlfriend.
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