Fort St. John man sentenced to 10 years for meth, fentanyl trafficking

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Fort St. John man was sentenced to 10 years in prison last week for trafficking meth and fentanyl between 2020 and 2021.

Atta Ui Waheed Sheikh, 38, from Fort St. John, was sentenced on January 5th in Vancouver Provincial Court after pleading guilty to two counts of trafficking a controlled substance. He was given ten years in jail and a ten-year prohibition from firearms.

According to Glacier Media, Sheikh was considered to be an executive part of a trafficking scheme moving drugs between Fort St. John and Calgary.

Judge Jennifer Oulton accepted a joint sentencing submission from Crown and defence lawyers. 

A joint submission occurs when the Crown and the offender’s lawyer agree on the sentence, according to Legal Aid Ontario.

An aggravating factor, Oulton said, was the ongoing public health emergency regarding the opioid crisis declared in 2016.

According to the Legal Information Institute, an aggravating factor refers to circumstances surrounding a crime that raise its severity and punishment.

The court heard the trafficking occurred between Vancouver and Toronto, involving 7.5 kilograms of methamphetamine and 4.2 kilograms of fentanyl from July 1st, 2020, to June 10th, 2021.

Oulton said Sheikh’s role in the operation was an accountant who kept track of sales. He was a high-ranking member, close to an executive member of a national drug-trafficking organization.

Oulton said the guilty plea was a mitigating factor, Glacier Media reported.

A mitigating factor is any fact or circumstance that lessens the defendant’s severity or culpability of an offence, according to the Legal Information Institute.

Oultan said a trial may have taken up to six weeks and believes Sheikh has taken remorse for the offences.

According to Glacier Media, the married father of three wept in court and said he accepted full responsibility for what he had done.

The sentencing occurred following a joint investigation between Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) and RCMP Federal Serious Organized Crime, called Project Motor.

According to ALERT, Project Motor was an 18-month investigation of a drug trafficking network with alleged origins in B.C.’s lower mainland, which reached Calgary, Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.

Following a series of large drug busts in southeast Alberta in 2020, the investigation originated in Medicine Hat.

ALERT traced the drug supply to find details of the organization believed to be responsible.

In addition to Sheikh, four others were charged with offences related to drug trafficking.

Investigators seized 11 firearms, 4,998 grams of fentanyl, 9,970 grams of meth, 50 grams of cocaine and $82,500 cash during the investigation and homes being searched in Calgary, Edmonton and Fort St. John.

According to ALERT, the fentanyl represents a theoretical yield of 50,000 doses, as it would typically be sold on the street level.