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Sentencing for cocaine smuggling sailboat captain adjourned again

A Canada Border Services Agency officer inspects the sailboat Quesera at East River Marine in Hubbards, N.S., on Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. Approximately 273 kilograms of suspected cocaine were found on the vessel and two men were arrested.
A Canada Border Services Agency officer inspects the sailboat Quesera at East River Marine in Hubbards, N.S., on Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. Approximately 273 kilograms of suspected cocaine were found on the vessel and two men were arrested. Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press

The sentencing hearing for a sailboat captain caught smuggling 250 kilograms of cocaine from the Caribbean to Nova Scotia has been adjourned until later this month.

Jacques John Grenier of Hubbards, N.S., entered guilty pleas last November after the Canada Border Services Agency boarded and searched his 29-foot boat in September at a marina near Halifax.

READ MORE: Nova Scotia sailboat captain pleads guilty to two cocaine-related charges

Officers found the cocaine hidden in a secret compartment, and Grenier was charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and importing cocaine.

Canada Border Services Agency and Nova Scotia RCMP seized about 273 kilograms of suspected cocaine on a vessel in Lunenburg County. Canada Border Services Agency

A third charge – conspiracy to import cocaine – has yet to be dealt with after a series of delays in the case.

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Grenier was supposed to be sentenced on the first two charges today in Halifax provincial court, but defence lawyer Patrick MacEwen told Judge Claudine MacDonald he needed to speak with his client about case law recently submitted by the Crown.

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READ MORE: 273 kilograms of cocaine seized from boat on Nova Scotia’s south shore

Federal Crown lawyer Glen Scheuer argued that there was nothing surprising in the file and he suggested the sentencing could take place later in the day.

However, MacDonald said the defence should be granted more time and adjourned the hearing until April 19.

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