Vernon Supreme Court

(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

VERNON - There was more going on at a Vernon condo than just arson.

One of the tenants of a townhouse on 44 Street has already been sentenced for setting the unit on fire, and now his roommate has been found guilty on gun and drug charges stemming from the incident.

Cody Wellington was convicted of five charges today, Jan. 27, in Vernon Supreme Court, including two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, possessing a firearm with an altered serial number and possessing an unauthorized firearm dated July 17, 2014, the same day police and emergency crews responded to the condo fire.

Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton said police discovered a safe in Wellington’s bedroom containing baggies of cocaine and methamphetamine, a gun and cash. Personal identification including Wellington’s wallet and birth certificate were also found inside. More of Wellington’s personal documents were found in the closet.

Betton described the safe as having an access that allowed small items to be placed inside — referenced by some witnesses as a drop box.

A notebook described as a ‘score sheet’ was found in the living room with Wellington’s fingerprints on it, Betton said. Score sheets are generally used by dealers to keep track of sales, and expert witnesses in the trial said the book was consistent with drug trafficking operations.

Defence lawyer Claire Mastop said there wasn’t sufficient proof the gun and drugs were in Wellington’s possession, arguing they could have belonged to someone else. Crown counsel Juan O’Quinn countered that the evidence of Wellington’s personal documents, combined with his name being on the lease agreement for the condo, were proof the illegal items were his.

Betton said Wellington’s defence theories were ‘neither plausible nor reasonable.’

Mastop has requested a pre-sentence report before Wellington is sentenced. The case will be scheduled for sentencing when the report is complete.

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