(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

A Kamloops man will spend 16 months in jail after he was caught selling fentanyl in Kamloops on the first day of his house arrest.

Darcy Dean Anderson, 34, was caught with nearly $2,500 worth of drugs on the North Shore. Kamloops RCMP officers were on foot patrol when they spotted Anderson with three other people surrounding an "open flame and a pop can," according to a recently published Kamloops provincial court decision.

Just one day before police arrested him, he was given a release order on a separate charge that included he remain on house arrest.

He was carrying 27 grams of meth, 11 grams of fentanyl-laced cocaine and 10 grams of pure cocaine, along with cash and a scale, according to the decision. Kamloops judge Raymond Phillips ordered him to spend 16 months in jail for possession for the purpose of trafficking.

"In Kamloops, Mr. Anderson is leading the life of an addict," Phillips said. "He has been homeless for some time. His addictions are alcohol and crystal meth. He associates with individuals that suffer from drug addiction and similar living situations."

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Anderson has a lengthy record in B.C., but Phillips said he was "doomed at birth" because of his Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and intergenerational trauma as an Indigenous man.

Residential school trauma and the Sixties Scoop tore Anderson from his Indigenous heritage. He spent most of his childhood in the foster care system and started his criminal activity once he left at 19, the court heard.

Phillips said Canada's colonial history had "significant impacts" on Anderson and at least two generations of his family.

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Phillips gave his decision on Jan. 6, but Anderson is still waiting for another decision for breaching his probation, for which he pleaded guilty on Jan. 23. That's just one of several breaches and dozens of other charges he's faced in B.C. courts.

Crown prosecutors would have sought a two to three year jail sentence, but reduced that to 18 months because of Anderson's Indigenous heritage. Anderson's defence, however, sought a six to 12 month conditional sentence order, which is a sentence outside of jail.

Phillips would have given Anderson 24 months, but reduced that sentence to 16 months. He also decided not to give Anderson probation on his release because of other probation conditions he's under.

"Adding another may overly complicate things for Mr. Anderson," Phillips said.

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