Saskatoon pharmacist sentenced to 5 years in prison for drug trafficking
The former owner and operator of a Saskatoon pharmacy pleaded guilty Monday to trafficking drugs, admitting she illegally sold more than 22,000 oxycodone pills.
Jenna Ternan, 43, was sentenced to five years in prison for what Justice David Gerecke called an "appalling breach of trust" that "led you to harm many individuals you will never meet."
He made the comments while accepting the joint sentencing proposal in Saskatoon Court of King's Bench from the Crown and defence.
According to an agreed statement of facts filed in court, police started investigating Ternan after they arrested a man in January 2023 and seized drugs from him that included oxycodone pills and a box with a label for Northumberland Pharmacy, which Ternan owned and operated.
The man's cellphone also contained messages between him and Ternan that talked about exchanging drugs for money.
Police ultimately determined Ternan sold more than 22,200 pills, valued between $58,000 and $87,400, between September 2022 and January 2023, Crown prosecutor Kirsten Janis said in court.
Ternan was arrested in March 2023, along with her common-law partner of eight years, Elmer Hanson. Hanson was also charged, but he died before going to trial.
Defence lawyer Will Louison said Ternan "kind of got caught up" in the drug trafficking and it's been hard for her to pinpoint how it started. He described how Ternan's partner, Hanson, struggled with a drug addiction and had a chronic injury that affected his ability to work — and then Hanson became addicted to the opioids he had been prescribed.
Ternan supported Hanson financially and employed him at the pharmacy after he could no longer work in construction. Hanson also developed a gambling addiction.
While the drug trafficking was partly Hanson's idea, Ternan accepts her role and acknowledges what she was doing was wrong, Louison said.
Case law shows the range of sentences for pharmacists who traffic drugs is between three and 14 years, but the longer sentences have involved fentanyl, which is considered a more dangerous drug, the judge noted.
Gerecke said the breach of trust is a "very weighty factor," but agreed that five years was an appropriate sentence.
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