Kelowna street-level drug dealer jailed 18 months

Photo: Colin Dacre

A street-level cocaine and fentanyl trafficker in Kelowna has been jailed for 18 months.

Kenneth Allen Busch, 50, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking after being caught selling 0.3 grams of cocaine and 0.3 grams of fentanyl to an undercover police officer on July 19, 2020.

According to a sentencing decision published this week, BC Supreme Court Justice Steven Wilson accepted a joint submission, or plea deal, related to the charges on Dec. 12, 2022 and approved an 18-month sentence.

Judges in Canada are bound to respect joint submissions, unless they believe the proposed sentence brings the “administration of justice into disrepute” and would lead a typical person to believe there is a “breakdown in the proper function of the justice system.”

Justice Wilson noted that the 18-month sentence is at the low end of the range for a trafficking conviction, but because of the guilty plea, the system was spared the need for a trial.

“The guilty plea also reflects that Mr. Busch has taken some responsibility for his actions; and, as a result, I am satisfied that a sentence at the low end of the range is appropriate in this case,” Justice Wilson ruled.

Busch had a prior criminal record including drug-related files such as convictions for possession for the purpose of trafficking in 1991 and a conviction for possession from 2013.

After time already served, Busch had 345 days left on his jail sentence.