Cops watched as dealer picked up lost meth bag at Tim Hortons, court hears

"At the end of the day you have to decide what kind of future you want, it's in your hands"

Article content A Moncton drug dealer was sentenced Friday to prison time after he was caught at a local coffee shop picking up a bag of meth he had dropped and stuffing it into his pocket. “Hopefully this is a hard lesson learned,” provincial court Judge Suzanne Bernard told the first-time offender. Christopher Douglas Hebert, 33, was in the prisoner’s dock for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to possessing methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, missing court and breaching release conditions.

He was sentenced to two years in prison, which is a standard sentence for a street-level drug dealer, even one with no prior record like Hebert. Defence lawyer Denis Sawyer said his client’s substance abuse problem was behind his actions. “That spiraled into the activities that led to him being arrested,” he said.

Prosecutor Christian Girouard told the court the offence happened April 13, 2025, at the Tim Hortons on Mountain Road, near Birchmount Drive. The RCMP got a call that someone found a pouch on the ground outside the business and it looked like it contained illegal drugs so they left it where it was. Girouard said the Mountie arrived and was talking to the person who had called, while the pouch still lay nearby on the ground.

The cop watched as Hebert walk over, pick it up and put it in his hoodie pocket. Hebert went into Tims and the police officer followed, stopped him and told him to hand over the pouch, which he did. The prosecutor said the contents of the pouch were analyzed and determined to be 22 grams of methamphetamine.

Scales, baggies and $325 were also seized from Hebert and everything was forfeited as part of the sentencing. The defence told the court Hebert hopes to take programs in the federal prison system to deal with his drug problem. Bernard told the first-time offender he likely won’t find prison easy but said if he puts in the effort it will make a difference for him moving forward.

“At the end of the day you have to decide what kind of future you want. It’s in your hands,” the judge said. The two years in prison are in addition to the four months Hebert has spent in jail since being arrested for missing court.