No jail for coke trafficking

A former Kelowna cocaine dealer will avoid jail time after his lawyer said he's “completely turned his life around” over the past four years.

Jessy Hahn, 31, appeared in Kelowna court this past week to be sentenced on one count of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, after he previously pleaded guilty to the charge.

Justice Edlyn Laurie sided with the defence's sentencing position, handing down an 18-month conditional sentence order that will see Hahn serve the sentence from his Peachland home, with a curfew, 60 hours of community service and several other conditions.

But while Justice Laurie agreed with the defence's position, Crown prosecutor François Lépine wasn't seeking jail time either, only seeking a two-year conditional sentence order instead.

Police raided home

The conviction stems from a Feb. 27, 2020 police raid at a townhome at 735 Cadder Avenue, where Hahn was living at the time.

Officers found Hahn sitting on the bed in the master bedroom when they arrived. Under the mattress, police found 10.1 grams of cocaine in 13 baggies, and another 130 grams of cocaine was found in a ziplock bag in the adjacent bathroom's toilet.

Another 84 grams of cocaine and a small amount of fentanyl was found in a safe in the bedroom, but Hahn's guilty plea did not apply to what was found in the safe, likely because the Crown may have had difficultly proving Hahn had access to it.

For several months, Hahn had been living at the home, which was described by Crown prosecutor Lépine as a “stash house.” Officers had been surveilling Hahn through January and February of 2020 and witnessed him engage in a number of meetings consistent with “dial-a-dope operation.”

Lépine said Hahn was not believed to be the head of the operation, but was living in the stash house and working for someone else.

Following the raid, police said the investigation also involved a search of a residence on the 1100 block of Sunset Avenue, although that residence was not brought up during Hahn's sentencing submissions.

Crown allows contact

One of the conditions the Crown initially planned to seek in Hahn's conditional sentence order was no contact with a Gurv Narula, who Lépine alleged had employed Hahn in the drug trade. But Lépine changed his mind about the no contact after learning from Hahn's defence counsel Rubinder Dhanu that Hahn and Narula still work together, lawfully.

“With respect to Gurv Narula, from the Crown's perspective, he was Mr. Hahn's employer in the drug trade, something that has not been proven in a court of law but an inference the Crown drew from the investigation,” Lépine said.

“That said, my friend has advised me yesterday that Mr. Hahn is currently deriving lawful employment and income from Mr. Narula and as a result of that, the Crown has decided not to seek a no-contact order with Mr. Narula.

“Perhaps in an ideal world they would have no contact whatsoever but the Crown chooses to believe that Mr. Hahn is aware enough that he knows that if ever does anything like that again he's unlikely to get another [conditional sentence order].”

According to a 2021 post from Jim's Mowing, Hahn and Narula were partners in a Jim's Mowing franchise in the Lower Mainland at that time. Lépine's allegations against Narula have not been proven in court. According to online B.C. court records, it appears Narula has not faced any criminal charges.

While some conditional sentence orders require a period of house arrest, Lépine said a curfew for Hahn “seems more pragmatic.”

He also didn't seek any probation period, noting one would be “not necessary to rehabilitate Mr. Hahn.”

A story of 'redemption'

During his submissions, defence counsel Dhanu called Hahn's story one of “redemption,” noting his client has “come a very, very long way since the time of these events.”

He said Hahn had split up with the mother of his children in late 2019, quit his job and began using cocaine and Percocets daily to self-medicate his depression. With nowhere to live, Dhanu said Hahn was offered a place to stay at the stash house on Cadder Avenue which led to him trafficking drugs.

After hitting “rock bottom” following his February 2020 arrest, Dhanu said Hahn moved back in with his mother and step father in the Lower Mainland. He collected Employment Insurance and abstained from drugs and alcohol, until Hahn bought a Jim's Mowing franchise in the Lower Mainland in September 2021.

Dhanu said Hahn's new business grossed more than $357,000 in 2022.

This appears to be the business that Hahn operated with Gurv Narula, who Lépine alleged was Hahn's former “employer in the drug trade.”

Hahn moved his family and business to Peachland in late 2022, where Dhanu says Hahn has rebuilt his customer base and is on track to gross a half a million dollars this year.

“This is not the type of story we see ever day in the courts, this I would say is truly exceptional in terms of how he's turned his life around in a very short time period,” Dahnu said.