Justice Watch: Justice Fiorucci sends fentanyl dealer to prison despite potential deportation
The Ontario judge rejected a request for house arrest, ruling immigration consequences could not outweigh the seriousness of trafficking a deadly drug.
A Hamilton judge has sentenced a convicted fentanyl dealer to two years in prison despite arguments that the punishment could lead to his deportation and eliminate his right to appeal a removal order.
As first reported by the National Post, Hopeton McFarlane, 28, pleaded guilty to possessing fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking. The Jamaican citizen has lived in Canada since arriving with his mother at age five and now holds permanent resident status.
His lawyer sought a conditional sentence of two years less a day, to be served in the community, followed by probation. The Crown requested three years behind bars.
Ontario Court Justice Joe Patrick Paul Fiorucci instead imposed a two-year penitentiary sentence and three years of probation.
“I am concerned about the immigration consequences that may result from the sentence imposed on Mr. McFarlane,” Fiorucci wrote in his Sept. 9 decision.
“However, having regard to the seriousness of the offence and Mr. McFarlane’s degree of responsibility, I am satisfied that a penitentiary sentence is required notwithstanding those immigration consequences.”
Police encountered McFarlane during a foot patrol on July 2, 2024. Officers found him kneeling beside a working digital scale containing visible fentanyl while speaking with a woman nearby.
A search uncovered additional fentanyl and $760 in cash. Police seized 8.44 grams of the deadly opioid and residue from the scale.
McFarlane later admitted he had been trafficking drugs because of financial difficulties.
His immigration lawyer warned that the conviction made him inadmissible to Canada for serious criminality. A custodial sentence of at least six months could also strip him of the right to appeal a removal order to the Immigration Appeal Division.
Fiorucci acknowledged that McFarlane had limited connections to Jamaica and that imprisonment would affect his partner and newborn daughter.
But the judge ruled those factors could not override denunciation and deterrence for fentanyl trafficking, citing the drug’s devastation of families, neighbourhoods, public-health systems and community safety.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.
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