A man involved in one of the largest clandestine fentanyl labs ever uncovered in Canada has been sentenced to nearly two decades behind bars.
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Edmonton Court of King’s Bench Justice Nathan Whitling on Tuesday sentenced Jonathan Loyie to 16 years in prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to manufacture and sell fentanyl from a “super lab” in southern Alberta.
Whitling said the size of the operation is “staggering” and quoted case law branding fentanyl dealers “merchants of death.”
He acknowledged the case will be precedent-setting, noting he could not find another case involving such a large fentanyl production scheme. While Loyie might not have been at the “very top” of the operation, he was an “executive” in the four-person conspiracy who bought large quantities of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China, Whitling said.
Loyie, a 37-year-old father of two, was out on bail and sat beside his lawyer while family members watched from the court gallery. He hugged them Tuesday afternoon before sheriffs led him away to begin his sentence.
“I stand before you taking full accountability, and I apologize for everything,” he told Whitling.
‘Super lab’
Loyie was one of 10 people charged after an Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) investigation uncovered what was described as a fentanyl “super lab” in the Calgary-area hamlet of Aldersyde.
At the time, police said they seized 31 kilograms of fentanyl and its precursors, as well as 7,600 kilograms of chemicals used in fentanyl production. The estimated street value was calculated at $300 million.
Prosecutor Courtney Mah said despite Loyie being “at the top of the food chain,” he was still involved in all aspects of the business, being caught by police “red handed” in the lab itself.
Loyie was charged with more than 30 offences. He pleaded guilty last spring to conspiracy to traffic fentanyl, money laundering, possessing a chemical precursor and weapons charges — including possessing a handgun with a defaced serial number.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the ALERT investigation began in January 2021 when police learned a man identified as “Individual #1” was importing hundreds of kilograms of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China — enough to produce an estimated 485 kilograms to 770 kilograms of fentanyl.
Police and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officials later installed a tracking device on an imported shipment of benzene, which Loyie, Individual #1 and a third male picked up in Vancouver and drove to “Individual #2’s” business in Edmonton’s Strathcona Industrial Park. The group used a variety of storage lockers to store chemicals and industrial lab equipment, which police obtained warrants to wiretap and enter covertly.
Police conducted 108 days of round-the-clock surveillance, during which Loyie was spotted picking up a trailer driven by another conspirator and taking it to a shop in Aldersyde, and later the “fully functional” fentanyl lab in Foothills County.
From June 28, 2021, until police raided the property a week later, Loyie and another person were observed at the lab “on an almost daily basis.” Loyie also made a series of calls aimed at securing the release of more than 1,900 kg of chemicals impounded by CBSA in Vancouver.
On July 7, 2021, police searched eight properties in Edmonton and four in southern Alberta. Loyie was among the six “primary targets” arrested. He was charged the following year after an analysis of the chemicals.
Financial records were later obtained showing Loyie and two of his associates transferred more than Cdn$95,000 to a Chinese company, ENCH Industry Ltd., for the precursor chemicals. Loyie also transferred more than $43,000 to Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce platform, and deposited more than $173,000 cash into his personal bank accounts.
Sentencing
The Crown argued Loyie should be sentenced to 18 years in prison. Had Loyie and his co-conspirators succeeded, they would have become one of the biggest sources of fentanyl in Alberta, Mah said.
A fentanyl lab of this size “has never been prosecuted in Alberta or, I believe, in Canada,” she said.
Mah said cases involving firearms are typically sentenced consecutively, meaning sentences for each of Loyie’s crimes would be served one after the other. That would have meant a Crown request of 36 years, which Mah acknowledged would run afoul of case law prohibiting “crushing” sentences. She instead suggested all five sentences be served at the same time.
Defence lawyer Rahul Nanda asked for a nine-to-11-year sentence, in part because his client pleaded guilty, saving the court a six-week trial with more than 110 witnesses.
He noted his client has no prior criminal record, had a “terrible” upbringing stemming from his Indigenous background, and was suffering from addiction himself, taking OxyContin pills like “Skittles.”
He said Loyie is “extremely” remorseful and lost his brother to overdose.
Whitling settled on 16 years. He noted the “starting point” sentence for wholesale fentanyl trafficking in Alberta is nine years, but said that case was a “much smaller scale” operation.
He acknowledged as Indigenous people, Loyie and his family experienced “intergenerational trauma and dislocation,” which played a role in “(mitigating) Mr. Loyie’s moral culpability.”
Most of Loyie’s co-accused remain before the courts, including his two brothers.
Nanda mentioned two of Loyies’ co-accused during his submissions. One — Graham Thomas — was acquitted, while another — Dakota Hogg — took the case to trial and was given a conditional sentence order, he said.
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