When city cops responded to a Cathcart Street call about an unwanted person with a weapon in April 2023, they didn't find a firearm.
The man wasn't there, and had left the area when the officers arrived, but they soon caught up with Paul Quesnel at a nearby Blucher Street home.
Again, no sign of a gun, but they did locate 86 grams of fentanyl, which had a street value of $34,000, when they searched him.
Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to possession of the deadly drug for the purpose of trafficking and breaching probation stemming from the April 13, 2023 incident.
On Tuesday, Quesnel, 32, was sentenced to a four-year prison term, a penalty jointly recommended by the Crown and defence.
Federal prosecutor Joe Chapman and defence lawyer Eric McCooeye also agreed his client should get credit for the time he's spent in pre-sentence custody.
When he imposed the sentence, Superior Court Justice Edward Gareau described it as appropriate and in the range.
Quesnel had pleaded guilty – a sign of remorse – and he accepted responsibility for his actions, the judge said, noting there had been triable Charter issues.
He also has a significant four-page criminal record and was found with 86 grams of fentanyl.
Gareau gave him the standard enhanced credit of 1.5 days for each day he's been in jail since his arrest – leaving him with a further 480 days behind bars.
He recommended that Quesnel serve this time at the Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre to participate in the facility's drug treatment programs.
McCooeye had also asked the judge to consider a further credit for the "harsh conditions" Quesnel experienced while in custody in the remand centre.
For prolonged periods Quesnel was "triple-bunked" in a two-person cell during times "when almost every week where there were lock-downs," the defence said.
If the court considered this mitigating factor it would shave a further six months off his remaining time.
The Crown had argued no further reduction was required.
Gareau denied the defence's request, concluding the conditions weren't desirable, but were not harsh, punitive nor exceptional.
"There was no evidence of any adverse effect on the offender."