Joseph Pauze was behind the wheel of a friend's 2008 Lincoln when a city cop spotted him rolling a stop sign on an October afternoon three years ago.
The officer followed him to his St. George's Avenue apartment building, where he admitted that he didn't have a driver's licence, and was arrested.
Things went from bad to worse on Oct. 5, 2021 after a search discovered Pauze had a small amount of crystal methamphetamine in his pocket and a cigarette pack containing approximately 20 grams of fentanyl.
He also had $390 in cash.
Last week, following a two-day trial that took place on May 27 and Aug. 6, Superior Court Justice Michael Varpio found him guilty of two counts of possessing the narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
During the trial, court heard from three Sault Ste. Police Service officers who dealt with Pauze that day.
The 68-year-old accused also took the witness stand in his own defence.
Acting Sgt. Derek Belanger, a patrol officer, who had previously worked as part of the drug unit, initiated the traffic stop that day.
Pauze told him the vehicle belonged to his friend, who Belanger knew had a significant drug-related past with the local cops.
The accused had a black cell phone and an open pack of cigarettes in his hands.
Belanger, a 14-year SSMPS member, located three baggies: one containing a purple substance and a second with a green substance, which he believed was fentanyl.
Another officer, Det. Trevor Pluss, assigned to the drug unit, weighed the seized narcotics.
Varpio heard the cops had found 7.52 grams of purple fentanyl, 12.7 grams of green fentanyl and 2.03 grams of crystal meth.
When Pauze took the stand he admitted that he had the crystal meth on him when he was arrested and had purchased $20 worth of the narcotic for his personal use.
He insisted that the fentanyl wasn't his and belonged to the car's owner.
The accused also testified the fentanyl seized from the cigarette pack could be sold for $100 a gram, which is "big bucks."
When asked why the other man would leave that drug lying around in a pack of cigarettes, Pauze responded his friend is "stupid," was "hammered" and had previously been caught with "blocks" of narcotics in his vehicle.
In a 10-page written decision, in which he described Pauze as a difficult witness, Varpio rejected his evidence.
It appeared he "was making it up as he went along" and "it made little sense," the judge said.
Pauze's explanation about why the vehicle's owner must have left the narcotics in the car "defies belief" because the other man was clearly involved in the drug trade and knew the fentanyl was worth a lot of money.
His evidence has no credibility" as it appeared "to be tailored to suit his needs" and much of it was "illogical and defied commom sense."
Varpio concluded Belanger's evidence "was simple, credible and entirely trustworthy."
The officer clearly recalled the accused was outside of the vehicle and had the cigarette package and cell phone in his hands when they began speaking to each other.
Pauze insisted he didn't use fentanyl, but knew it was worth a lot of money, the judge said.
There is only one possible reason why he had it: "he was trafficking the narcotic."
The suggestion that Pauze didn't know about the fentanyl would mean someone else put a narcotic worth "big bucks" in his cigarette pack.
"Such an inference is absurd," Varpio said.
Pauze testified his monthly income, from old age security and disability cheques, totals about $2,000.
Given his income as compared to the value of the narcotic, "there is no way Mr. Pauze had several months' income worth of fentanyl for any use other than trafficking," Varpio concluded.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 21.