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Kelowna man pleads guilty to possessing fentanyl for trafficking

Plea deal in fentanyl case

Nearly four years after police raided his Dilworth home and found large amounts of a variety of drugs, a Kelowna man pleaded guilty to several drug charges Friday.

Nigel Byrne stood in Kelowna court Friday morning and pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, along with possession of cannabis for the purpose of distribution contrary to the Cannabis Act.

As part of his plea deal, the Crown has agreed to stay the charges faced by his co-accused Michelle Collins, along with four other drug charges Byrne was facing.

With his guilty plea, a presentence report was ordered, and sentencing is expected to come later this spring.

The plea comes after a five-day voir dire last May and June where defence and Crown argued over the admissibility of evidence, and a couple days of trial last month.

Civil Forfeiture

The police raid on Byrne and Collins' home in April 2020 first became public after the BC Civil Forfeiture Office filed a civil suit against the pair, seeking the seizure of their Dilworth home, which is registered to Collins, and two vehicles, alleging the property is proceeds of a drug-trafficking operation.

In that filing, the Civil Forfeiture Office alleged police had found 119 grams of fentanyl/heroin, 141 grams of cocaine and 2.2 kilograms of cannabis, along with methamphetamine, psilocybin mushrooms, cannabis and a variety of prescription pills. Additionally, police allegedly found more than $27,000 in Canadian cash and 25,000 Mexican pesos.

The civil claim stated police began surveilling the home on Lillooet Crescent on March 31, 2020 and continued the surveillance for about a month, before the April 29 raid.

The Director of Civil Forfeiture says police observed the pair making close to 20 “short-duration stops consistent with drug trafficking” in Byrne's 2005 Infiniti G35 and Collins' 2020 Land Rover Evoque.

While the Crown has agreed to stay the criminal charges against Collins as part of Byrne's plea deal, the Director of Civil Forfeiture alleged police observed her making seven short-duration stops consistent with drug trafficking in the Land Rover between March 31 and April 28, 2020.

Fighting seizure of home

In a formal response filed by Collins on June 22, 2020, she said she's a self-employed businesswoman who operates a cleaning business, and earns “legitimate income” through the business and by flipping houses.

She says she purchased the Lillooet Crescent home using her legitimate income, savings and a large inheritance from a family member.

“The defendant Collins is completely unaware of any criminal activity in the house at Lillooet Crescent Property, and if some illegality did in fact occur there, then it was done so without her knowledge or consent,” her response states.

In that filing, Collins noted she had no criminal record and hadn't been criminally charged over the allegations, despite being arrested. The criminal charges were laid against her and Byrne more than a year later, in September 2021.

Byrne, meanwhile, has not filed a formal response to the civil forfeiture matter. The allegations made by the Civil Forfeiture Office have not been proven in court.

While the matter of the seizure of the home remains before the courts, Byrne and Collins consented back in September 2020 to the seizure of the Infiniti.



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