A jury found him guilty of possession of fentanyl and methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking.<\/p>\n
Published May 12, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
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A judge in Owen Sound sentenced a 25-year-old Brampton man who was trafficking in fentanyl and methamphetamine in Saugeen Shores in 2022 to eight years in prison Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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After subtracting time served in presentence custody, credited at time-and-a-half or 4.7 years, and with an extra six months off for harsh jail lockdowns mostly due to staff shortages, Mohamed Gabaire has less than three years more to serve.<\/p>\n
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The federal Crown sought a sentence of 9 to 10 years before deductions, while a court-appointed lawyer argued on Gabaire\u2019s behalf for a 6.5- to seven-year sentence before deductions. Ultimately, the sentence was two years, nine months and three weeks.<\/p>\n
Gabaire pleaded not guilty in the Superior Court of Justice to three Sept. 28, 2022 charges. A jury found him guilty on two counts \u2014 possession for the purpose of trafficking in fentanyl and methamphetamine \u2014 and not guilty to possession of $2,950 proceeds of crime.<\/p>\n
Gabaire represented himself at trial, assisted by a court-appointed lawyer. The evidence was \u201coverwhelmingly\u201d against him, said Superior Court Justice Roger Chown, while reading his sentencing reasons aloud.<\/p>\n
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Gabaire was arrested on Sept. 28, 2022 in Port Elgin after driving there in his mother\u2019s car from the GTA that morning. Police searched the car and seized 247.5 grams of fentanyl and 93.4 g of methamphetamine worth $50,000 to $130,000 all told, and cash.<\/p>\n
Gabaire\u2019s cellphone records indicated he\u2019d been involved in commercial drug trafficking since at least July 2022, Chown said. Gabaire was considered a \u201cmid-level\u201d trafficker. He was 22 and had no criminal record when charged.<\/p>\n
Sentencing was primarily to denounce Gabaire\u2019s conduct and to deter others from committing the same crime, Chown said. The amount of drugs was a \u201cserious aggravating factor,\u201d as was the inference that he was doing it for profit, not to feed his own addiction.<\/p>\n
Texts on his phone showed him to be a \u201cconfident and practised\u201d dealer in large amounts of dangerous drugs. It was also aggravating that Gabaire drove from Toronto to bring drugs to a small community, but that was a lesser sentencing factor, Chown said.<\/p>\n
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Mitigating factors included Gabaire\u2019s youth and lack of court record. He was a first offender and has strong family support, which can indicate he\u2019d have a better chance at rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
The subtraction of time served before sentencing took the biggest bite out of the sentence left to serve. But the biggest mitigating factor which reduced his sentence was harsh jail conditions, including limited access to showers and exercise, Chown said.<\/p>\n
Gabaire served two days in custody before he got bail, which was later revoked. He served 1,147 days in custody in three different institutions. For 344 of his 788 days at Central North Correctional Centre, he was let out of his cell less than two hours a day due to lockdowns.<\/p>\n
The lockdowns happened primarily due to staff shortages, Chown said. Unable to adequately supervise inmates when outside their cells, inmates are locked in their cells longer instead, Chown said.<\/p>\n
Chown said there\u2019s \u201cno excuse for this ongoing systemic problem\u201d that\u2019s gone on for years. He\u2019s required to consider it as a significant mitigating factor on the sentence, he said.<\/p>\n
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He gave Gabaire an additional six months reduction due to these particularly harsh conditions while in custody, with federal Crown Elizabeth Barefoot\u2019s agreement.<\/p>\n
Gabaire\u2019s family sat directly behind him in court, with clear divider separating them from the prisoner\u2019s box where he sat. He was born in Toronto, of Somalian heritage, the second oldest of six siblings.<\/p>\n
The family moved to Africa but returned to Brampton when Gabaire was in Grade 7. He completed high school but post-secondary efforts were unsuccessful. He was described in letters as caring, respectful, helpful at the mosque, with mental health and substance addiction struggles.<\/p>\n
Chown said the letters may describe Gabaire as a younger man, before the time of the offences. He noted Gabaire wasn\u2019t candid about his use of illicit drugs with people assessing his mental fitness and writing a presentence report on his background. Two mental health assessments concluded he was fit to stand trial.<\/p>\n
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The judge didn\u2019t believe Gabaire demonstrated remorse either but said that wasn\u2019t weighed in arriving at an appropriate sentence.<\/p>\n
Chown said he did consider a letter filed by the Crown from Dr. Ian Arra, until recently the medical officer of health for Grey-Bruce, which described the toll on lives caused by fentanyl in Grey-Bruce, including a more than four-fold increase in opioid deaths from 2018 to 2021, fairly steady levels in 2022 and 2023, and a big increase in emergency department visits.<\/p>\n
Chown also referred to a 2021 Supreme Court of Canada case, R v Parranto, which he said changed the sentencing landscape for significant fentanyl cases. It observed there were far more fentanyl-related deaths than homicides, which sentencing should reflect.<\/p>\n
Chown also ordered Gabaire to submit a DNA sample, obey a firearms prohibition and the judge issued a forfeiture order for all items seized by police except the cash.<\/p>\n
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