Jesse Andrew Sadivant's troubled background featured heavily into his Thursday, Nov. 28 sentencing hearing at B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

jail sentence

Nanaimo fentanyl trafficker jailed, hopes to reform at local in-custody rehab program

Nov 29, 2024 | 4:27 PM

NANAIMO — Already with a long history of property crimes throughout the mid-Island area, a first drug trafficking conviction resulted in an automatic jail sentence.

Jesse Andrew Savidant, 35, was sentenced to 18 months in jail on Thursday, Nov 28 at B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo after previously being found guilty of trafficking fentanyl.

Savidant was found passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle at Nanaimo’s Port Place Shopping Centre on Oct. 1, 2020, with seven grams of fentanyl, drug paraphernalia and cash.

Referencing pre-sentence and Gladue reports delving into the offender’s background, federal Crown prosecutor Jen Rutherford said Savidant had a “very chaotic childhood”, headlined by poor influences from his father who had apparent gang ties.

Rutherford said Sadivant was exposed to open drug and alcohol use at a young age.

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“By the time he was a very young teenager, he was using himself and he was starting to get put in the foster system.”

Rutherford said the neglect Savidant faced put him at a severe disadvantage in life.

“So somewhat unsurprisingly he comes before the court with a very lengthy record, although not a terribly serious one in the sense that it is a record of a person who steals things under $5,000 and breaches release orders.”

While the fentanyl trafficking charge was his first such conviction, Rutherford noted case law still dictated the offence results in jail between 18 months and two-and-a-half to three years.

Jesse Savidant has a lengthy criminal record dating back to his youth in Alberta. (Nanaimo RCMP)

Tom Spettigue, Savidant’s lawyer, told court that his client has already been taking advantage of the Guthrie House rehabilitative programming since transferring to Nanaimo Correctional Centre in September.

“He’s taking accountability, he admits he was trafficking fentanyl that day to essentially support his own addiction.”

The sentence does not include probation.

Spettigue acknowledged his client struggles abiding by court-ordered conditions.

Justice Peter Edelmann accepted the joint sentence recommendation for Savidant, who also received a lifetime firearms ban, DNA order and forfeiture of items seized in the Port Place bust.

Savidant faces separate property crime and breach of conditions charges related to incidents in Nanaimo, Ladysmith, Langford and Port Alberni.

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes