A youth has been sentenced to four months of open custody, two months of community supervision and 18 months of intensive support and supervision in a drug trafficking case connected to the overdose death of a 13-year-old.
The youth, who can’t be named due to his age, pleaded guilty on Sept. 24, 2018 to one count of trafficking a controlled substance, police said in a news release.
“Essentially, he was sentenced to two months in youth detention, followed by community supervision, and intensive support and supervision,” said NWPD spokesperson Sgt. Jeff Scott in a news release.
“We continue to work closely with our community partners to help educate teenagers about the risk of drug use and to provide assistance to parents and guardians as they navigate the challenges and complexities of supporting their teenagers.”
On July 15, 2017, two teens bought MDMA from a street level drug dealer at the 22nd Skytrain Station, police said.
The teens were returning to their residence in Port Coquitlam when the 13-year-old went into medical distress and later died in hospital. Toxicology results later confirmed that the 13-year-old died of a lethal overdose of MDMA.
The NWPD said its street crime unit conducted a “lengthy and thorough” investigation with the help of Coquitlam RCMP, Transit Police and the Vancouver Police Department.
Although the sentencing was originally scheduled for Jan. 15, 2019, according to a prior news release, it was pushed back more than a year to Jan. 20, 2020.
Scott said he was not aware of the reason for the delay.
