windsor fentanyl dealer asks for leniency, tells judge too much drugs in prison
busted by windsor police with a large quantity of deadl...
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windsor police on oct. 14, 2020, displayed items seized — including $50,000 in cash; fentanyl, crystal methamphetamine — following a drugs investigation. a sentencing hearing was held wednesday, dec. 4, 2024, in superior court of justice after one of the accused pleaded guilty to several criminal counts, including possession of fentanyl and meth for the purpose of trafficking.
photo courtesy of windsor police service
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windsor star
busted by windsor police with a large quantity of deadly fentanyl, other narcotics and $50,000 cash, a drug trafficker pleaded with a sentencing judge this week not to throw him behind bars. “there’s a lot of drugs in prison — i just don’t wanna be in that environment,” bradley hoffman said.
in prison, the windsor drug dealer insisted, illegal narcotics are too readily available and he fears relapsing into addiction.
but it was an argument the sentencing judge wasn’t buying.
while lauding hoffman’s success in getting himself off highly addictive fentanyl and maintaining sobriety over the past two years, justice renee pomerance said she had no choice given the severity of his crimes. it would be up to him, she said, to “stay on track, one day at a time.”
with the crown seeking a 10-year prison sentence and the defence arguing for a term of incarceration of four years, pomerance handed hoffman a six-year sentence. the judge shaved a year off that term, in part for time spent in pre-sentence custody.
at an earlier superior court of justice appearance, the windsor man had pleaded guilty to possession of a total of 226 grams of fentanyl and 392.6 grams of crystal methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking.
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deaths in windsor and in cities across canada from fentanyl, a highly potent and addictive synthetic opiate — potentially lethal even in minute amounts — have been at crisis levels.
hoffman and a co-accused were arrested in april 2020 following an investigation by the windsor police service’s drugs and guns unit. the defence had argued hoffman was selling drugs to feed his own addiction and explained the large quantity of narcotics and cash were part of hoffman’s efforts to pay off a drug debt to two toronto suppliers.
the crown countered it “defies common sense” to believe hoffman’s account that when he last met his suppliers they simply “came to bundle the money but didn’t take the money.” police seized just over $50,000 cash from hoffman’s motel room on the day of his arrest.
that hoffman, now 43, is still alive is “truly extraordinary,” defence lawyer bobby russon told the court. during his client’s time on bail, he said hoffman sought out help and was able to shake his drug addiction.
“it feels nice to be happy again,” hoffman told the court ahead of pomerance’s sentencing verdict. “i was a severe fentanyl addict — it took over my life, that’s all i cared about, was the drugs.
“when i didn’t have them, i felt like i was dying.”
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now sober and “with my head on straight,” hoffman said he’s reconnected with his son, who is non-verbal with cerebral palsy: “he loves having me around.” he said he also has a job lined up in construction.
“i just feel a prison sentence will set me back.”
hoffman might have added to the problem of drugs in jail. after his arrest, police discovered 20.9 grams of fentanyl hidden “in his rectum,” according to evidence presented in court.
the judge said she recognized that hoffman is an addict, and she praised efforts made to sober up, but she also pointed out how his actions endangered the lives of other addicts.
“mr. hoffman, i wish you luck and i wish you well,” pomerance said at the hearing’s conclusion. hoffman was also handed a lifetime weapons ban and ordered to submit a blood sample for a police dna databank.
all charges against the co-accused were withdrawn.
outside court, russon told the star it was a “fair and fit sentence.” he described his client as an otherwise “wonderful human being … who made some very serious mistakes but has taken responsibility and is now going to pay the price.”
russon told the star he’s had “probably 10 or more” former clients who have died from fentanyl overdoses. “i went to the first two or three funerals, but then i stopped — it’s too hard.”
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the prosecutor in the case told the star that the supreme court has weighed in “on how dangerous fentanyl is.” while not a new drug to the streets, fentanyl remains “lethal, horrible and wreaks havoc on our communities,” she said.
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