Drug dealer avoids jail after turning life around while on the lam

Photo: BC Courts

A former Kamloops drug dealer will avoid prison after turning his life around while on the run from the law.

Daniel Colligan, 34, was charged with three counts of cocaine trafficking in 2011 after RCMP made three illicit drug purchases from Colligan, who was running a dial-a-dope operation. 

He didn’t show up for his trial in October 2013, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Police didn’t catch up to him until December 2018, when he was found in Edmonton — but by that time he had fully departed the criminal lifestyle. 

“Between 2011 and today, Mr. Colligan has completely turned his life around,” said Justice Len Marchand in his sentencing decision. 

“That is commendable but the fact that he did so while on the lam presents a challenge at the sentencing stage. How can the court impose a sentence that discourages offenders from fleeing justice generally while at the same time promoting public safety by supporting the rehabilitation of a particular offender specifically?”

Colligan pleaded guilty to the charges shortly after his arrest and was released on bail prior to his sentencing on July 31, where he received a two-year conditional sentence. 

The court heard that Colligan had a difficult childhood as the son of a Hell’s Angel member who was sexually abusive towards his alcoholic mother.

Until age five, Colligan was raised by both parents in Kamloops. He witnessed his dad attacking his mother when he was just five years old. He jumped on his father and ended up covered in his mother’s blood. His father was charged with attempted murder and fled.

Eventually, his mother started dating a new partner who was physically abusive to Colligan. According to Colligan, this man, "beat on him daily," until his mother finally separated from him when he was eight years old.

The tumultuous upbringing led to substance abuse at the age of 13. He was a high school dropout and by age 17, he was addicted to alcohol, marihuana and cocaine and began selling drugs. The downward spiral continued from there.

In 2012, after his arrest, he started dating a new woman and broke off all negative associations and moved to Edmonton with her. At this point, Colligan accumulated an extensive criminal record consisting of seven youth and 15 adult convictions.

The court heard that in Edmonton, Colligan began attending NA and AA meetings. He has been steadily employed in the oil industry and is currently working as a site supervisor with a production testing company and has an annual income of $180,000.

The couple has two young children.  Colligan says his partner’s first pregnancy was the reason he became clean.  He wants to make a better life for himself and his family.  

Family and friends wrote letters of support to the court; "These letters paint a picture of a trustworthy, hardworking family man who can be counted on to help others in need,” Justice Marchand said.

In his sentencing, Marchand talked about Colligan’s crimes but contrasted it with his new leaf and pointed out that putting him in jail would leave him unemployed and an absent father.

"Mr. Colligan has come to understand how harmful his offending conduct was. He is remorseful and recognizes that he must be punished. No matter what the sentence is, Mr. Colligan says that he is committed to maintaining his new lifestyle.”

Marchand sentenced Colligan to a two years conditional sentence within B.C. and Alberta.  He is only allowed to leave home for work for the first year.  In the second year of the sentence, he will have to adhere to a 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. curfew.  He also must abstain from drugs and alcohol and will take mandatory counselling for addictions and trauma.

“Mr. Colligan, you should not have left British Columbia to evade justice, but I congratulate you on making such fundamental changes in your life. I am sure that was not easy to do. I know that the (Conditional Sentence Order) I have imposed will significantly restrict your liberty for a long time, but that is necessary in view of the seriousness of your offences and behaviour. At the same time, there are terms in the (order) to support your recovery,” the judge concluded.