Sarnia cocaine dealer gets three years in prison

Nolan Barr has paid a stiff price for a busy 2023 that saw him in handcuffs three separate times amid high-profile arrests in the Sarnia area.

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The Sarnia resident, 21, was first arrested in March last year in his hometown amid an alleged $29,000 drug bust. Three months later, he picked up a raft of new charges after a bizarre road rage incident near a Sarnia elementary school. Then in October, he was briefly in jail again after police found 374 grams of cocaine worth more than $37,000 in a car on Highway 402.

Last week, Barr pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine for trafficking in the latter case – charges in the first case were dropped as part of his plea deal – and sentenced to three years in prison.

Justice Martin Lambert said the amount of cocaine Barr was caught with was very concerning. He also called people like Barr merchants of misery.

“A lot of misery for people,” he said. “There are many victims.”

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Barr’s final arrest took place Oct. 15 on the provincial highway outside Sarnia. The Lambton OPP community street crimes unit, which had been watching Barr for about a month and put a tracking device on a silver 2005 Subaru in which he regularly rode, pulled it over just past Forest Road as it was returning from Toronto, court heard.

After arresting Barr and vehicle owner Ryan Young, 22, of Sarnia, officers found the cocaine and Barr’s driver’s license in a black satchel under the driver’s seat. Officers also found a can of bear spray on the floor and half a gram of cocaine in Barr’s pocket, the court heard.

Both men were charged with possessing cocaine for trafficking, and Barr also was charged with breaching bail, police said at the time.

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The charge against Young was dropped last week after Barr was sentenced.

The plea deal did not include Barr’s road-rage case, which returns to court later this month.

Additionally, a bench warrant has been issued for Donovan Joseph, 25, of Sarnia, who was charged along with Barr in the first drug case.

Both lawyers suggested the three-year sentence for Barr that Lambert imposed.

“He was in possession of a significant quantity of cocaine,” federal prosecutor Brian Higgins said.

Defense lawyer Igor Vilkhov told the judge that Barr, a first-time offender, was a user-trafficker who started doing cocaine when he was young. But he’s on an opioid-replacement drug and is working to improve himself and his education while in prison, he added.

“He’s very remorseful for his actions. He understands the impact of the drugs on a small community,” he said.

Barr told the judge he regretted his choices and explained his plans for the future.

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