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A former correctional officer will learn next month whether he will be sent to prison for trying to smuggle cannabis concentrate into a Nova Scotia jail — contraband a prosecutor says was worth more than $50,000 at the highly inflated prices behind bars.
Robert McLaughlin, 42, faced a sentencing hearing Friday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Pictou, N.S., with the prosecution arguing for three years in prison, while the defence sought a conditional sentence. Justice Bryna Hatt will make her decision Aug. 5.
McLaughlin had previously pleaded guilty to breach of trust and one count under the Cannabis Act, after two packages of the concentrate were found in his pocket when he entered the Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in New Glasgow, N.S., on Sept. 3, 2023.
“The primary consideration here is one of denouncing this conduct and deterring others from committing these crimes,” prosecutor Glen Scheuer told the court Friday.
McLaughlin previously told the court he brought the packages to the jail after two men showed up at his home and threatened to harm his family. But last month, Hatt ruled his testimony was not credible and said there is no other evidence of intimidation or threats.
Instead, the judge sided with the prosecution’s argument that the crime was planned and premeditated. The cannabis was brought in for an inmate, who was the “directing mind” of the scheme. McLaughlin was a key person and voluntary participant, Hatt said.
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McLaughlin admitted to using cocaine while off duty, the judge said, but minimized how that fact might be used by inmates to manipulate him and refused to accept it was the reason that some reportedly called him “crackhead.”
McLaughlin’s legal aid lawyer, Nic Hoehne, argued Friday his client should be given a conditional sentence. It would serve as a deterrent, keep the community safe and benefit McLaughlin, he said.
He noted McLaughlin pleaded guilty, had no criminal record, went to addiction treatment, returned to his old job at the Department of Transportation, and has the support of family.
Hoehne pointed to case law that shows former correctional guards who are themselves imprisoned face a more difficult time behind bars than many other inmates and are often placed in protective custody.
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The investigation that ultimately caught McLaughlin centred on phone calls an inmate had made trying to arrange for people on the outside to provide the cannabis to an unnamed guard, whom he called a “vest,” who would bring the drugs into the jail.
An intelligence officer was able to identify McLaughlin as a suspect using video surveillance footage inside the facility that showed him taking a note from the inmate.
The officer learned the timing of the scheme from the phone calls, and McLaughlin was questioned when he arrived to work. He initially denied wrongdoing, but two packages wrapped in cellophane and electrical tape were found in his pants pocket.
Scheuer argued the apparent motive was profit. The court has heard phone recordings from the inmate that said McLaughlin would be paid a total of $2,000, although he denied receiving money and there is no proof any changed hands.
The inmate said in one call that a gram of the cannabis concentrate can be sold to other offenders in a correctional facility for $500. Given that 110 grams was found on McLaughlin, Scheuer said the total value can be calculated at $55,000.
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