Law360 Canada ( May 26, 2025, 1:04 PM EDT) -- Appeal by Crown from sentence imposed against respondent Bellows for conspiracy to traffic cocaine. The respondent was involved in a drug trafficking operation investigated by the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team under “Project Elk.” The respondent acted as a courier, delivering drugs on multiple occasions, and was identified as a key participant in the operation. Despite his role, Bellows had no prior criminal record and claimed financial motivation due to family needs. The respondent was sentenced to two years less a day conditional sentence order (CSO), with house arrest for the first 18 months, a curfew for the remaining six months, followed by a two-year probationary period. The Crown appealed, arguing that the sentence was demonstrably unfit and failed to address the paramount objectives of denunciation and deterrence, especially given the gravity of the offence and the appellate sentencing guidance for wholesale drug trafficking in Alberta. The Crown contended that the CSO resulted from errors in the sentencing judge’s assessment of the offence’s gravity, handling of aggravating and mitigating factors, and assessment of the preconditions for a conditional sentence. The Crown argued that the sentence should be increased to reflect the gravity of the offence and support societal denunciation of drug dealing conspiracies. The Crown maintained that a sentence of three years’ incarceration was proportionate and fit, considering all mitigating circumstances. The respondent argued that the threshold for a sentence being demonstrably unfit was very high and that deference should be owed to the trial judge who considered the body of the evidence. The respondent contended that the Crown should show an unreasonable and unjustifiable departure from a proportional sentence under s. 718 of the Criminal Code. He suggested that even if the disposition deviated from the usual range of sentences, it did not make the sentence demonstrably unfit. The respondent argued that the Crown complained that a CSO departed too far from the 4.5-year starting point for wholesale trafficking in cocaine and that the sentencing judge’s weighing of relevant factors warranted a lower overall sentence....