A Fort St. John fentanyl dealer has been sentenced to 40 months behind bars.
Dana Andrew Nazarek was sentenced in Supreme Court on July 11, four-and-a-half years after police raided his home and seized more than 2,000 fentanyl pills disguised as Oxycontin in December 2013.
Nazarek, 47, was found guilty last August of possession for the purpose of trafficking and possessing the proceeds of crime.
Police also seized more than a kilogram of cocaine and $100,000 in Canadian and American cash in the bust, calling Nazarek a mid-level supplier who used his laundry room to process the drugs.
Nazarek’s lawyer argued there was no evidence Nazarek had knowledge the pills were drugs, and “may have believed that they were some sort of vitamins, antacids, or even breath mints." The court later rejected his lawyer's attempt to have the charges dropped over trial delays.
In addition to his jail term for trafficking, Nazarek was issued a lifetime firearms ban, ordered to provide a DNA sample, and assessed $200 in victim surcharges for trafficking.
On possessing the proceeds of crime, Nazarek was sentenced to two years in jail, issued another lifetime firearms ban, ordered to provide a DNA sample, and assessed another $200 in victim surcharges.
The jail terms will be served concurrently.
A written ruling has yet to be released.
Arraignment on new drug charges pending
Nazarek has been in custody since February on a separate round of 20 trafficking and weapons related charges.
He was out on bail and awaiting sentencing for his August 2017 conviction when police again raided his home on Feb. 24 — seizing 800 suspected fentanyl tablets and two ounces of suspected fentanyl, other drugs believed to be crack cocaine and crystal meth, five loaded firearms, and $38,000 in cash.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 8 on his latest charges — four for trafficking, 14 for weapons, one for possessing the proceeds of crime, and one for escaping custody. He has yet to make a plea, and has not been found guilty.
Nazarek's wife, Laura Wensley Nazarek, was sentenced to two years in jail in January, after pleading guilty to possessing fentanyl and cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in relation to the 2013 bust.
Email Managing Editor Matt Preprost at editor@ahnfsj.ca.
