A 38-year-old man said in court yesterday he was forced to smuggle drugs into Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre to pay for past debts.
John Attrell, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug possession and one count of breaching his probation.
Following a joint submission from Crown and defence, Attrell was given a total of 35 days in prison.
Defence lawyer Jay Michi said Attrell has struggled with heroin and cocaine addictions.
Attrell has 25 convictions as an adult, most of them for property offences.
“Coming out of that lifestyle, you have some debts,” Attrell told provincial court judge Stephen Harrison.
“There was an ultimatum: You do this or things will happen to you.”
Attrell said the attempted smuggling was at the behest of a criminal gang.
Prosecutor Amanda Strangways said Attrell was entering the maximum-security prison in west Kamloops after failing to pay a fine given to him as part of a criminal sentence.
He was initially searched for drugs, but correctional officers did not find anything.
However, a nurse who later attended to Attrell notice the smell of fresh marijuana.
A subsequent search turned up pot and morphine.
Strangways said correctional officials suspected the drugs were hidden in a body cavity.
Michi said Attrell realizes the seriousness of smuggling contraband into jail, something that can result in violence between inmates, as well as overdoses.
Attrell said he is on a methadone program and apologized for falling asleep during the sentence hearing.
