‘Addict trafficker’ hoping to stay out of prison for selling cocaine to Windsor police

Superior Court of Justice building in Windsor. (CTV News file photo)

Daniel Harrison, 44, has admitted to selling 1.4 grams of cocaine in April 2024. Unbeknownst to him, the buyer was an undercover officer with Windsor’s Drugs and Guns (DIGS) Unit.

A subsequent search warrant of Harrison’s home and vehicle found another 97 grams of cocaine, court heard Friday.

The 3.5 ounces of cocaine were seized along with two pairs of brass knuckles, two digital scales, an airsoft pistol, and a small amount of Canadian currency.

‘He’s glad that he got caught’

Defence lawyer Ken Marley told Justice Maria Carroccia Friday, Harrison was struggling with the end of a 16-year relationship in 2024, and he couldn’t deal with his feelings without “resorting” to the use of cocaine.

Marley repeatedly referred to Harrison as an “addict trafficker”.

Windsor police placed the value of the drugs in 2024 between $3,000 and $4,000.

“His use of cocaine created a financial crunch for him, a hardship that he couldn’t deal with in any other way other than to be trafficking in substance,” Marley told the judge Friday.

“He’s glad that he got caught.”

Marley said after his arrest Harrison sought counselling for mental health and addictions, work he continues today.

“He wanted to get working on getting out of that lifestyle and making sure that by the time he got here in front of a judge, he was well on his way to being able to rehabilitate himself,” Marley told the media after the hearing.

Harrison’s best chance, Marley argued, is to serve his punishment at home on house arrest for 18 months to two years less a day.

“I ask not that he be rewarded, but that he be encouraged to continue in that rehabilitative path,” Marley told the judge.

Serious drug

“We hear a lot about fentanyl. We hear a lot about the ongoing opioid crisis, but cocaine remains one of the serious drugs in this country and it needs to be treated as such,” Federal Prosecutor Mitchell Witteveen said Friday.

He is asking Harrison be sent to prison for two to three years, for a single count of trafficking and a second count of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

“The concern is that if members of the public hear that conditional sentences (house arrest) become common for cocaine, that’s not sufficient in denouncing that conduct,” Witteveen countered.

Harrison was facing six charges total but only pleaded guilty to two.

The four others will be “dealt with” at sentencing, Witteveen said.

Justice Carroccia will sentence Harrison on June 9.