Before sentencing Randy Sherk to seven years in prison for trafficking fentanyl, a Sarnia judge heard the Forest resident has struggled with a serious drug addiction for at least a decade.
“I reflect on the fact that as a user and as an addict himself, Mr. Sherk must have known the great misery that comes along with the ones dealing with this particular substance,” Justice Mark Poland said. “I have no doubt Mr. Sherk has friends and acquaintances whose lives have been irreparably changed, damaged, destroyed and lost through their association and consumption of fentanyl.”
Sherk recently was sentenced for charges stemming from a drug raid in Lambton Shores in which police found fentanyl and ammunition worth more than $8,000 while searching a home on George Street in Forest on Nov. 25, 2022.
Sherk, 38, was charged with possessing fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking and two counts of possessing ammunition contrary to a court order and held for a bail hearing, police said at the time.
At the start of a trial on July 26, 2023, Sherk, who spent almost a year in pre-trial custody, pleaded guilty to the two weapons charges and to one count of drug possession, but not guilty to possessing it for the purpose of trafficking. A shortened trial was held, with the trafficking element being the central issue.
The court heard two colours of fentanyl, purple and peach, were found in Sherk’s living room in a food container underneath a coffee table. It weighed more than 42 grams and was worth somewhere between $8,000 and nearly $26,000, depending on how it was sold.
Defence lawyer Nick Cake argued they didn’t know how much of the pile of drugs was destined for Sherk’s consumption.
“That’s important, your honour,” he said.
Poland returned in May with his decision, where he found Sherk guilty of possessing it for the purpose of trafficking. The case was adjourned again to get pre-sentence reports.
During the recent sentencing hearing, the court heard Sherk was prescribed painkillers after crashing a dirt bike in 2014.
“And then, the rest is history,” Cake told the judge. “Unfortunately, your honour, it’s a tale as old as time as we see in the courts.”
He noted his client was on 180 milligrams of methadone while he was fighting his addiction.
“Which, I’m sure your honour is aware, is an incredibly high amount of methadone, which speaks to the strong hold that opioids, especially fentanyl, had on Mr. Sherk during the time that he was using,” he said.
Cake, who also argued the fentanyl was cut with other substances and wasn’t truly 42 grams of the drug, asked for five years in prison.
Federal prosecutor Brian Higgins countered with 7.5 years.
“A message must be sent to others who might follow in Mr. Sherk’s footsteps that this won’t be tolerated,” he said.
Sherk also had four prior adult convictions for possessing drugs for the purpose of trafficking, the prosecutor noted. He previously spent two years in jail after he was caught with eight grams of fentanyl and half an ounce of crystal meth in 2019, he said.
He also was jailed twice in 2016, once for violating a court order and again after he was caught with a sawed-off shotgun.
Poland called Sherk’s prior record highly aggravating and said what he did was at the mid-level of the drug world.
Sherk, a boilermaker, told the judge he’s been able to stay clean while out on bail and is working on his sobriety. Poland, who told him to step into custody as soon as he finished speaking, gave him credit for 21 months in pre-plea custody or under house arrest, leaving five years and three months left to serve.
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