Photo: File photo

Reginald Purdom crashed his car after he was shot eight times in 2016.

A Kelowna man who survived a brazen 2016 attempt on his life in West Kelowna, after agreeing to testify against his former co-conspirator, allegedly remains involved in the drug business in 2020 according to a recent civil forfeiture suit.

In a civil suit filed by the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office this week, the province says Reginald Purdom was arrested in Kelowna in February of this year, after he was found in an SUV that had more than 45 grams of fentanyl and more than 25 grams of methamphetamine inside it, along with a scale, score sheets and other evidence of drug trafficking.

The province alleges Thomas Sanders' black Cadillac Escalade was pulled over by the CFSEU Gang Enforcement Unit on Feb. 21, 2020 on Dilworth Drive. Purdom and two women were passengers. The officers arrested the two men after finding the drugs, along with close to $4,000 cash. 

Four years ago, Purdom was shot eight times in the chest, leg and hand while he was driving his Lincoln Town Car on West Kelowna's Hudson Road. A man, later identified as Tyrone McGee, rode by Purdom on a bicycle and shot into the car with a 40-calibre handgun, equipped with a silencer, but Purdom survived.

Just two weeks before the shooting, Surrey's Kevin Donald Kerfoot lost his bid to halt his extradition to the United States to face trial on drug smuggling charges from ten years prior. Purdom – who was caught in 2005 crossing the border in a powerboat with seven kilograms of ecstasy, to exchange for 41 kilograms of cocaine – had co-operated with U.S. authorities, and named Kerfoot as the mastermind behind the operation. Purdom served 54 months in jail and agreed to testify against Kerfoot, before the 2016 shooting.

Ultimately, Kerfoot pleaded guilty to the U.S. charges and was sentenced to 13 years in jail in 2017. McGee, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to attempted murder in Kelowna court, and was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2018.

In the recent civil suit, the Director of Civil Forfeiture claims the $3,865 in cash was proceeds of crime and "has been used by the [Purdom and Sanders] to engage in unlawful activities." As such, the province is seeking the forfeiture of the cash.

But online court records show no charges have been laid against Purdom or Sanders since their arrest eight months ago. Purdom, who has a lengthy criminal record in B.C. dating back to 1997, appears to have faced no new charges since the attempt on his life. Sanders meanwhile is facing several unrelated charges from June through September of this year.

Neither Purdom nor Sanders have filed responses to the Civil Forfeiture Office's civil claim, and none of the province's allegations has been proven in court.