A convicted West Kelowna fentanyl dealer who has admitted his past life was “built on deceit” has been given full parole, but he has to live up to several conditions if he wants to maintain his newly granted freedoms.
Leslie McCulloch, 44, is currently serving his second federal sentence of eight years, one month and 28 days relating to a 2015 drug bust in West Kelowna.
He’s been living in a halfway house and holding down a job in the last year and to maintain full parole he will have to:
- not consume drugs; no contact with criminals;
- follow a treatment plan in the areas of substance abuse and emotions management;
- not possess more than one mobile device and allow monitoring of communications on said device;
- and offer up a financial disclosure.
The board said that breaching those conditions would present an “undue risk to society” and the conditions will stay in effect for the duration of his full parole release.
McCulloch has a criminal record that dates back to 1999 and even since he’s been in custody he’s repeatedly flouted the conditions dealt to him.
“In (his) hearing, the board noted that the one word that keeps coming up in (his) file about (his) behaviour is the word “deceit” and that it was evident in (his) words, (his) actions and (his) crime cycle,” reads the Parole Board document.
“(McCulloch) acknowledged that the life (he) lived was built on deceit, that it was how (he) lived (his) life with (his) negative associates.”
However, having acted that way for almost two decades, McCulloch is apparently looking for change.
He’s told the parole board he does not miss being a part of the criminal subculture he was once embedded in and even though he earns less money than when he was selling drugs “it is sufficient” and he’s changed his spending.
He also told the parole board that he understands that all of society were “victims to (his) drug dealing.”
“It starts with the people (he) sold drugs to and then there was a domino effect that affected their families and then society as a whole.”
During the drug bust in 2015, McCulloch was identified by police as being involved in importing substances that were used to make illicit drugs. He was also seen associating with known drug traffickers and a high-ranking member of a well-known and sophisticated gang, which the CSC refers to as a “security threat group.”
The police determined that he was producing counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and he was arrested alongside his fiancée in March 2016.
A search of his business and residence resulted in the recovery of 938 oxycodone pills believed to contain fentanyl, over $35,000 in cash, score sheets, scales, money counters, 500ml of GHB, a small amount of cocaine, money transfer receipts totalling $15,500 sent to China, 406 grams of cetyfentanyl divided into eight small bags, two pill presses, a pill counter, plastic bags with oxycodone pills, pill-binding agents and other powders of various weights.
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