Spider-Man is not going to jail.
The Kamloops man who portrays the Marvel superhero at children’s birthday parties had been facing a potential nine-month prison sentence after pleading guilty last week to drug-trafficking charges, but a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled Wednesday he will not spend any time behind bars.
Joshua Vos was instead placed on a two-year probation term, the first 12 months of which will be served under house arrest.
In September 2016, Vos sent a text to the wrong number, offering a number of hallucinogenic drugs for sale. The recipient of the text happened to be a Kamloops RCMP officer and Vos was eventually contacted by an undercover Mountie looking to score party drugs.
The 25-year-old met with the officer on three occasions, selling her nearly 10 grams of MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
Months later, the undercover Mountie contacted Vos again, but he told her he had a change of heart and was no longer selling drugs. He also refused to provide her another dealer’s contact information or play middleman.
In court last week, Vos was described as a yoga devotee who was dabbling in hallucinogens for spiritual purposes. He works part-time as a children’s entertainer and gymnastics coach and had no prior criminal record.
Vos said he believed at the time that he was doing good by selling the drugs, but now realizes he was sorely mistaken.
“With this background, Mr. Vos is a most unlikely candidate as a drug dealer,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Hope Hyslop said Wednesday in sentencing him.
“Mr. Vos recognized what he did was wrong. I find that he has rehabilitated himself.”
Terms of Vos’ house arrest will allow him to leave home to work or attend school. In addition to the probation, he was also banned from possessing a firearm for 10 years and ordered to submit a sample of his DNA to a national criminal database.
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