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Abbotsford gangster Jarrod Bacon and his former father-in-law Wayne Scott could face 15 to 21 years in prison, if a judge accepts the Crown prosecutor's recommendations. They were found guilty last Feb. 3 of conspiring to traffic 100 kilograms of cocaine, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. At a sentencing hearing Friday, prosecutor Peter LaPrairie asked the judge to impose a prison sentence of up to 21 years for Bacon and up to 15 years for Scott. The judge will sentence Bacon on May 4; Scott's sentencing hearing was adjourned to June 8 for medical reasons. The offence took place in February 2009, when an undercover police agent posing as a high-level drug dealer negotiated the sale of 100 kilos of cocaine for $30,000 a kilo. "Bacon and his financial backers had $3 million to invest in cocaine and said his group would be able to dispose of the cocaine quickly," LaPrairie told Justice Austin Cullen during the hearing in B.C. Supreme Court. An aggravating factor, the Crown counsel said, was the fact Bacon was on bail at the time for a number of weapons offences. Bacon, 29, has eight previous criminal convictions. "He is a criminal and an enforcer who regularly wears a bulletproof vest," LaPrairie told the court. He said Scott, 55, who has two grown children and a grandson, played the middleman in the drug deal and used covert means to further negotiations. The Crown contends Bacon was the "operating mind" and played the central role, with Scott facilitating meetings at his residence with the agent. The Crown also pointed out the two men used a chalkboard for clan-destine communications at a dining room table while Bacon's parents were present. Bacon is the father of Scott's grandson. The Crown contends the cocaine was worth $3.5 million at the bulk level, but would have sold for $8 million at the street level. The judge suggested the "notional profit," since no drugs changed hands, would have been $2,500 to $3,000 a kilogram. "Cocaine is a very dangerous drug," said LaPrairie, who pointed out that Bacon lied during the trial, testifying he didn't plan to buy the 100 kilograms but instead planned to rip off the agent. Bacon has been in custody since Nov. 26, 2009, while Scott has been on bail. The Crown suggested Bacon should receive double credit for the two years and five months he has served in custody, which amounts to a deduction of four years and 10 months. At the time of the police reverse-sting operation, there was a flurry of violence across Metro Vancouver resulting from a gang war between the Bacon group and their enemies in the United Nations gang. Jeff Ray, Bacon's lawyer, suggested the judge should impose an eight-year sentence, considering that no drugs were seized in the reverse sting, so there was no potential for any to be distributed. "It was an imaginary offence," Ray told the court, comparing the crime to "a conspiracy to commit a murder of someone who doesn't exist." He added: "I can't find another case where no drugs were seized in a reverse sting." After deducting the double credit for "dead time" served in pre-trial custody, Bacon should serve only another three years and two months in custody, the defence lawyer said. Bacon's longest previous sentence was six months in jail. Ray also urged the court not to accept the Crown's recommendation that Bacon serve half his sentence, or at least 10 years, before he is considered for parole. The lawyer said Bacon was a high school wrestling champion who ranked as one of the best in Canada. Bacon's brother Jonathan was shot to death in Kelowna last August and his brother Jamie is in custody, facing murder charges.
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