A Surrey man has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to trafficking in cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and benzodiazepine as well as four gun-related crimes.
Justice Eric Gottardi sentenced Robinder Singh Sohi, 31, in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on December 8, related to crimes committed on Sept. 16, 2022.
The Crown sought a six-year sentence while the defence argued for a sentence of 42 to 48 months.
Gottardi noted in his reasons for sentencing that police caught Sohi by chance, as he was a passenger in a car being driven “erratically and at high rates of speed.”
“After querying the vehicle and observing the vehicle participate in several near accidents, the police pulled the vehicle over,” the judge noted.
The driver was arrested for dangerous driving. Sohi refused to get out of the car and was arrested for obstruction. Police found a “dialler bag” containing drugs and while reading Sohi his rights answered his cell phone after it began ringing and “made notes of several calls which were consistent with prospective buyers seeking to purchase small amounts of drugs.” A subsequent search turned up $2,040 in cash, three more “dialler bags” of pre-packaged drugs, a loaded Glock model 48 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a cartridge magazine with ten 9mm calibre bullets in the restricted gun.
All told, police seized from the car 373 individual packages of drugs containing 34.34 grams of methamphetamine, 79.34 grams of cocaine, 7.44 grams of fentanyl and 29.49 grams of a fentanyl/benzodiazepine mixture worth $10,590. Gottardi noted the individual packages of drugs were priced for sale, based on type and amount, in increments of $10, $20, $50, $80 and $225.
The court heard Sohi is a graduate of Fleetwood Park Secondary School and following high school entered a nursing program before leaving and completing a diploma as an education assistant to work with children with special needs.
A report from the BC Coroner’s Service, filed as an exhibit, confirmed 2,272 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths in B.C. in 2022, the second‑largest ever recorded in one year. Of those deaths, 232 were in Surrey and fentanyl was detected either alone or combined with other drugs in 82 per cent of them
The court also heard that in 2022 – the year of Sohi’s arrest – Emergency Health Services recorded 2,864 overdose response calls here in Surrey.
Gottardi noted Sohi had no prior criminal record.
“Despite a good upbringing, he made a conscious decision to prioritize profit over the lives and safety of members of his community. His conduct showed a concerning level of disregard for human life,” the judge noted.
Gottardi concluded that a global sentence of four years is “proportionate, fit and proper.”