Former guard gets 16 months for drug offences

Former prison guard Edward Taylor, 32, has been sentenced to 16 months for five drug-trafficking charges.

Justice Wayne Dymond issued his sentencing decision at Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Monday morning.

Taylor tried to smuggle drugs — including oxycodone — into Her Majesty's Penitentiary in 2010, an agreed statement of facts presented to court in December said.

Taylor had already pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching probation by possessing drugs.Taylor was charged in February 2010 after police found ecstasy, marijuana and painkillers, such as Percocet, OxyContin and morphine, on his premises.

During a sentencing hearing in December, Taylor's lawyer John Kelly read a letter that Taylor wrote.

In the letter, Taylor admitted that what he did was wrong and a huge mistake. He apologized to police, his employer and his parents, and promised to redeem himself in the future.

Brenda Boyd, the Crown prosecutor handling drug charges against Taylor, asked for a sentence of three years for the trafficking convictions. For the breach of probation, Crown attorney Sheldon Steeves asked for a sentence of three years to be served concurrently.

Boyd and Steeves told Supreme Court Judge Wayne Dymond that Taylor had committed an egregious breach of trust by trafficking hard drugs to the prisoners he was employed to guard.

But defence lawyer Kelly, who asked for a conditional sentence of less than two years to be served in the community, said his client has a history of mental illness, including bipolar disorder.

Kelly asked that Taylor's own history of dependence on alcohol and cocaine be taken into consideration in sentencing. He said that Taylor, who became a father last fall, admits what he did was wrong and is trying to change.

Outside the court building in December, Taylor told CBC News that he has stopped using drugs and alcohol. He also said the birth of his son in September has inspired him to turn his life around.