Fort St. John drug trafficker’s appeal dismissed

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — An appeal has been dismissed after a Fort St. John man says he was wrongfully convicted for possession for the purposes of trafficking.

Marcus Richard Mearow had claimed the judge failed to consider his testimony in the context of the evidence as a whole, arguing the drugs were solely for personal use. 

The appeal was dismissed in Vancouver Supreme Court on September 27th.

He was arrested on July 3rd, 2021, in Fort St. John after breaching a release order, with RCMP finding him in possession of three small bags containing various amounts of cocaine or crack cocaine. 

Mearow was convicted of the trafficking charge in Fort St. John Provincial Court on June 1st, 2022. 

The first bag contained powder cocaine mixed with phenacetin and caffeine, the second contained nine smaller baggies of powder cocaine, and the third bag contained 13 smaller baggies of crack cocaine. Bag one, and each of the smaller bags, had between 0.23 and 0.72 grams, typically associated with street-level trafficking. 

Mearow argued in his appeal that the drugs were not intended for trafficking. 

The judge rejected Mearow’s argument that the drugs were solely for personal use, noting the testimony provided was “inconsistent, evasive and selective on material points.”

The judge was ultimately satisfied that the Crown had proven its case, as the “only reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence as a whole was that Mr. Mearow possessed the cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.”