By selling an illicit fentanyl pill to a man with mental health issues “who sought refuge in drugs,” Levi Thomas Fyfe not only contributed to the man’s fatal drug overdose — he continued trafficking fentanyl after he was released on bail.
The aggravating circumstances led Justice Richard Danyliuk to hand down a five-year sentence to Fyfe, 23, who had pleaded guilty to two counts of fentanyl trafficking and one count of breaching a release condition that he not possess drugs or alcohol. The Crown had argued for a six-year sentence while the defence argued for three to four years.
On Oct. 13, 2015, Fyfe gave a fentanyl pill to an acquaintance, who was known to be violent when on drugs, in exchange for a snowboard. Suspecting her son was high when he knocked on her window that night — and afraid of what he might do based on past behaviour — she refused to let him inside. The next morning, she found her son’s dead body in the backyard.
Fyfe does not believe he played a significant role in the man’s death, Danyliuk noted in his decision. Five months after he was charged, Fyfe was caught selling two fentanyl pills to another young man on March. 30, 2016.
“In selling this drug to needy and vulnerable addicts he was a predator, seizing upon and using the weakness of his fellow human beings for personal gain. That is repulsive,” Danyliuk wrote.
But he told the young man that he wasn’t ready to give up on him yet, encouraging Fyfe to stick with treatment in order to become a healthy and productive member of society.
Court heard Fyfe comes from a loving family and had many advantages growing up before drug addiction took hold of his life. It started when Fyfe took a pill that he thought was OxyContin, but ended up being fentanyl. The addiction spiralled from there.
Fyfe maintained he was a low-level drug dealer who was ordered to sell the pills by his dealer, something Danyliuk said he found difficult to believe.
At Fyfe’s sentencing hearing in December, the victim’s mother and father described the hurt, anger and guilt they feel over the loss of their son. Fyfe apologized directly to the victim’s father in court.
His guilty plea, young age and lack of criminal record were all mitigating factors taken into account when sentencing, Danyliuk said.
“Street fentanyl” is an illicit pill made with unknown quantities of fentanyl, a powerful painkiller. The drug has contributed to 39 deaths in Saskatchewan between 2010 and 2015, according to a Chief Coroner’s report contained in the decision.
