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SARNIA – Defence lawyer Ken Marley told a Sarnia judge he’s confident he won’t see Jeffrey Graham again, despite his long criminal record, because he’s broken free of a long-standing drug addiction.
“I am happy to make that comment. Happy for Mr. Graham and happy for our community,” Marley told Justice Mark Poland.
Due to his drastic turnaround, which started with a trip to a treatment centre in early 2023, the two prosecutors in Graham’s case – he was caught with 24 grams of crystal meth inside an abandoned Lambton County school – agreed to join Marley and suggest house arrest.
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Federal prosecutor Brian Higgins told the judge a conditional sentence for drug trafficking may seem concerning given Graham’s record, but noted there’s been a significant change amid his ongoing rehabilitation.
Graham, 56, went to the Launch Pad Recovery Center in Windsor in early 2023 and still lives in a sober living house linked to that facility.
Poland agreed it may appear concerning, but called the reshaping of Graham’s life singularly impressive. He added he sees records like Graham’s all the time, but rarely sees people use willpower and motivation to overcome drug addiction.
“Mr. Graham’s done so,” he said. “You’re to be congratulated for that.”
The nine-month sentence Poland imposed includes GPS tracking and a ban on alcohol and drugs or going to the old school on Bentpath Line in Dawn-Euphemia.
Graham was caught there July 20, 2022, amid reports of a suspicious pickup truck in the area. Police found a black Chevy Silverado and the emergency response team and canine unit found Graham and a Chatham woman, 27, in the school. He had a knife and nearly $3,000 on him and a plastic bag with 24 grams of crystal meth in the pickup belonged to him.
Lambton OPP laid several charges at the time. Graham recently pleaded guilty to possessing crystal meth for trafficking, breaking and entering with intent, and breaching bail.
Graham, a former Chatham resident, also was sentenced last year in his hometown to house arrest for trafficking drugs there in 2022 shortly after his arrest in Sarnia.
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