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He did the same thing in Parry Sound; he received a five-year penitentiary sentence in a Sudbury courtroom
Published Apr 15, 2026 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 4 minute read
Greater Sudbury Police Chief Sara Cunningham and OPP Acting Detective Superintendent Andy Bradford held a joint news conference at Greater Sudbury Police headquarters in Sudbury, Ont. on Tuesday June 17, 2025. Photo by John Lappa /Sudbury StarArticle content
For selling cocaine in Sudbury and Parry Sound, and then being found with cocaine, cash and a loaded firearm at his Toronto home last year, Kevin Dacosta-Pinto received a five-year penitentiary sentence in a Sudbury court on Tuesday.
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“Gun-related crimes pose a great danger to Canadians,” said Ontario Court Justice Kara Vakiparta. “The mere presence of a loaded firearm is inherently dangerous.”
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Justice Vakiparta said that danger is “only an impulse or a trigger finger away” from happening, especially when drugs are involved.
“Individuals who have loaded, prohibited firearms, have no business possessing them anywhere, anytime, engaging in criminal conduct, should receive exemplary sentences that emphasize denunciation and deterrence,” she said. “In addition to having the prohibited firearm in his possession, Mr. Dacosta-Pinto is also trafficking in a significant amount of cocaine.”
Vakiparta accepted a joint sentencing submission that Dacosta-Pinto, 26, who had no prior record, receive a five-year penitentiary sentence on three charges: cocaine trafficking in Parry Sound on May 1, 2025; and possession of a prohibited firearm with readily accessible ammunition and cocaine possession for the purpose of trafficking in Toronto on May 29, 2025
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The sentence was reduced to just under four years and seven months due to Dacosta-Pinto receiving pre-trial custody credit of 37 days and a Downs credit of four months for being under very restrictive bail conditions for 10 months.
Vakiparta also issued a lifetime weapons ban and a DNA order to Dacosta-Pinto, who was supported in court by three people.
The judge said that while the five-year sentence was on the lower end for these crimes, it was “still within the range for a first-time offender who has pleaded guilty, has taken drug treatment, has the support of his family, and has the ability to rehabilitate himself … You must receive a significant sentence despite the mitigating factors.”
There were two co-accused associated with Dacosta-Pintos’ offences. The Crown dropped charges against Dacosta-Pintos’ fiancée following his sentencing. Khyle Dennehy, 26, of Toronto, meanwhile, had already resolved his charges and received a penitentiary sentence.
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Dacosta-Pinto, before being sentenced, apologized for what he had done.
“I was in a situation where people took advantage of me and my kindness,” he told the court. “But, I am here to admit wrong … I want to get this over with and move on with my future, create a new future and loving life … This will never happen again. You will never see me here again. I just want to live a significant life in the eyes of God.”
Dacosta-Pinto was one of 25 people arrested through Project Saturate, a joint initiative that the OPP and the Greater Sudbury Police launched in 2024 to stem the flow of drugs from southern Ontario to Northern Ontario.
Police arrested suspects in the Greater Toronto area, Hamilton, Midland and Greater Sudbury in May 2025.
A wide range of charges were laid, including firearms and drug trafficking offences, conspiracy and possession of proceeds of crime. The illegal drug haul included 12 kilograms of cocaine, 7.3 kilograms of fentanyl, 164 grams of methamphetamine, 2,448 oxycodone tablets, 1,010 methamphetamine tablets and eight kilograms of cannabis. The estimated street value of the seized drugs was $1.9 million.
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According to an agreed statement of facts, on April 17, 2025, a police agent and undercover officer involved in Phase 2 of Project Saturate purchased 454 grams of cocaine in Sudbury for $15,500. That cocaine had a 98-99 per cent purity.
Dennehy and Dacosta-Pinto had travelled to Sudbury to sell the two packages of cocaine to the undercover officer.
Then on May 1, Dennehy and Dacosta-Pinto sold another half-kilogram of cocaine in Parry Sound. A bag containing $17,500 in cash was exchanged for 495.82 grams of cocaine, which was 90 per cent pure.
On May 29, Ontario Provincial Police officers executed a search warrant at Dacosta-Pinto’s Toronto home. He and his girlfriend were arrested.
Officers found a loaded handgun on top of a dresser, 282.09 grams of cocaine, $54,195 in cash, one round of .45-calibre ammunition, iPhones, scales, packaging materials, a debt list, and two debt list books.
“It is a sad situation that has brought Mr. Dacosta-Pinto here,” said defence lawyer Adam Newman, in his sentencing address. “His criminal record is starting out big.”
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Newman said that after his client got bail, he was on very restrictive conditions that prevented him from working or communicating with his fiancée.
“He has not been able to talk to his fiancée for 10 months,” said the lawyer. “It has been a real awakening for him.”
Newman said Dacosta-Pinto was badly injured in a serious car accident about four years ago. He was prescribed an opioid medication. When that prescription ran out, Dacosta-Pinto turned to street drugs for his pain.
“He was not a high-level drug dealer,” said Newman. “He allowed storage of it at his home. It was being held there by him for dealers. Occasionally, he would make a delivery. The only drugs he did use were for his own benefit … He was using, and he was getting paid off to store drugs occasionally.”
While on bail, continued the lawyer, Dacosta-Pinto completed an online drug addiction course, has been getting drug addiction and mental health counselling, and has not touched drugs since his arrest.
The lawyer provided letters of support from Dacosta-Pinto’s mother, pastor, and employer to the court.
“This is mid-level trafficking,” said federal prosecutor Delinda Hayton. “It takes all the cogs in the wheel to make this (drug dealing) operation work, including the person who is storing the drugs.”
Hayton added that guns and drugs “are always a dangerous combination.”
As a result of the three guilty pleas, the Crown dropped a dozen other charges Dacosta-Pinto was facing.
X: @HaroldCarmichae
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