PICTOU – A Welsford man will be spending the first few months of 2018 on house arrest.
John Alexander O’Laney, 66, was sentenced in Pictou provincial court Monday to a six-month conditional sentence that includes four months on house arrest after pleading guilty to a charge of production of cannabis as well as trafficking the drug.
O’Laney was charged after police obtained a warrant to search his home during which time officers seized 23 marijuana plants, six stems, 460 grams of bud and 1.42 kilograms of shake.
The court was told that O’Laney was co-operative with police during the search and told them he grows the plants for his own use but does provide cannabis to people who visit his home. He also told officers he uses the drug to help ease chronic pain.
Police did not find any related accessories such as large amounts of money, dime bags, score sheets or scales to indicate O’Laney was trafficking on a larger scale. The Crown also noted there were no weapons.
In addition to the conditional sentence, O’Laney will serve six months’ probation and pay $400 in victim surcharge fines. He must forfeit all items seized by police and is prohibited from owning firearms or prohibited weapons for life.
