A 27-year-old man busted by the RCMP while delivering $40 worth of cocaine to an undercover operator has been ruled an “exceptional circumstance” by a B.C. Supreme Court justice.
That ruling on Monday, Jan. 12, means Jeremy Machmer will escape a jail sentence, otherwise considered a mandatory sentence in so-called dial-a-dope operations.
In September 2013, police dialled a cellphone number of a woman they believed was selling drugs.
They purchased a small amount of cocaine from her and Machmer accompanied her. Later the same day, Mounties again requested a small amount of drugs.
This time, Machmer came by himself, sold police the drugs and rode away on his bicycle, only to be arrested later.
The Crown asked for a four-month sentence, but acknowledged Machmer may qualify as an exceptional circumstance, needed in order to escape otherwise mandatory incarceration.
Defence lawyer Don Campbell said when he first met Machmer on the file, he was “floridly psychotic,” speaking about messages from the clouds and a new world order.
A year after the incident, Machmer was taken into Royal Inland Hospital’s psychiatric ward under the Mental Health Act and held for a six-week stay. A psychiatrist later determined he was fit to be sentenced.
Since then, Machmer has been placed on medication, has family support and is regularly seeing mental-health workers.
“Mr. Machmer is the sort of person where he was at risk of being utilized by people like this,” Campbell said of drug dealers.
A conditional-sentence order is no longer available after changes made by the Conservative government.
To escape a mandatory jail sentence, Hyslop gave Machmer a suspended sentence with a curfew for the first four months — a sentence considered more lenient than a conditional-sentence order, but still available under the law.
“I think this is an exceptional circumstance where Mr. Machmer should serve a non-custodial sentence,” Hyslop said.
He is also subject to a 10-year firearm ban and must take medication as ordered.
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