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A man who pleaded guilty in March to possession and production of a fentanyl-like drug has changed his lawyer ahead of sentencing, and his new lawyer has "additional issues" with the case.
Leslie McCulloch, 38, pleaded guilty to production of acetylfentanyl and possession for the purpose of trafficking in February, after his business on Auburn Road in West Kelowna was raided in March 2016.
Acetylfentanyl is an analogue of fentanyl, described by the American Drug Enforcement Agency as “similar to fentanyl." The drugs still falls under the Canadian Controlled drugs and Substances Act.
After pleading guilty, McCulloch was released on $15,000 bail and remains under electronic monitoring.
He was back in Kelowna court Tuesday to confirm that a pre-sentence report has been completed and to put his new lawyer, Paul Gracia, on record as his counsel.
Gracia told the court he has yet to read the pre-sentence report, but he has “additional issues” with the case that he needs to investigate.
“We do require additional time to research those issues, more than to just read this PSR (pre-sentence report),” Gracia said.
McCulloch's file will be back before the court on June 12 to schedule a future sentencing date, “if all goes well,” according to the Crown.
McCulloch's girlfriend, 27-year-old Rebekka White, was also in court Tuesday, facing charges of production of a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking and two charges of possession, stemming from the same raid.
She also remains out of custody on bail, and will also be back in court on June 12.
British Columbia has been going through an illicit drug crisis for more than a year, largely fuelled by the introduction of fentanyl into street drugs. In 2016, 914 people died from illicit drug overdoses, up 80 per cent from 2015. Of those 916, 48 were from Kelowna.
In February, a Metro Vancouver drug dealer, who grew up in Kelowna, was given a 14-year sentence for trafficking fentanyl.
