Halifax drug dealer sentenced to 3½ years in prison

A Halifax man who was the subject of a high-speed police chase through the city's west end three years ago has been sentenced to 3½ years in prison for drug trafficking.

Cameron Mombourquette, 26, was sentenced in Nova Scotia provincial court Thursday.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to charges that included drug trafficking, possession of property obtained by crime, and possession of a prohibited weapon.

The weapon was a handgun that had been thrown from the passenger-side window of Mombourquette's vehicle during the police chase. The gun included an illegal, oversized magazine.

Police also found 500 grams of cocaine and 97 pills containing heroin. Police also found $1,550 in cash when they searched his vehicle and another $5,052 at his home, along with a one-ounce gold bar.

Court was told Mombourquette's income was solely derived from drug trafficking at the time of his arrest in December 2020. His vehicle was even equipped with a secret compartment to facilitate moving drugs around the city.

The Crown asked for a sentence of six years.

But Judge Elizabeth Buckle said there were several factors that warranted a lesser sentence. They included the fact that he was a first-time offender, that he pleaded guilty without a trial and that he has turned his life around since his arrest, abstaining from drugs and breaking all contact with people he knew in the drug trade.

Mombourquette's family packed the courtroom for his sentencing.

"I realize this is not a happy day for you," Buckle said as she concluded her sentencing. "It doesn't have to be the end."