A drug dealer has been sentenced to seven years in prison for selling fentanyl in Barrie.
Speaking in a barely audible voice, Lenardo Jones-Alleyne confirmed his guilty plea in an agreed statement of facts in a Barrie courtroom.
The 28-year-old from Markham was arrested on Dunlop Street West on Dec. 12, 2022. He had been under investigation and surveillance for a few weeks by a multi-jurisdictional police investigation that included both Barrie city police and Nottawasaga OPP.
Court heard evidence that, when arrested, Jones-Alleyne was found with 252 grams of fentanyl, an unspecified amount of cocaine, $36,000 in cash and various tell-tale signs of the illicit trade such as scales, multiple licence plates and cellphones.
Jones-Alleyne has an extensive criminal record. During a previous arrest in Toronto seven years ago, he was found with a handgun, although no weapons were found during his local arrest.
Crown attorney Alexander Morris and defence lawyer Royland Moriah both struck a hopeful tone that Jones-Alleyne is not a lost cause.
“This is a significant sentence, but not a crushing one,” said Morris. "There is a chance for better days ahead (for Jones-Alleyne).”
Moriah made similar comments.
“He still has a lot of life ahead of him,” Moriah told court. “There is time to turn his life around.”
There are no tomorrows, of course, for those who overdose as fentanyl cuts its deadly swath through communities, including parts of Barrie located near the courthouse where Jones-Alleyne made his plea.
Asked to outside court, Morris declined to offer additional comments about the wider issues around fentanyl, given how U.S. President Donald Trump has made it one after taking office, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promising to make it a campaign issue and the general strife the drug has cut through the local community.
Jones-Alleyne has been in custody since his arrest, totalling 816 days, which was enhanced to 1,224 based on the standard 1:1.5 ratio that pre-sentence credit is doled out.
With that calculation, Jones-Alleyne has about 44 months left to serve.
Speaking softly on his own behalf, Jones-Alleyne apologized and said he wants to serve his time and be there for his young daughter.
“I (realize) how selfish I was,” he told court. “I want to be better for her.”
