A long-time Chilliwack prolific offender was convicted of six counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of possessing stolen property in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Jeffrey Michael Kizmann, 41, tried to sell a stolen chainsaw on Facebook Marketplace in April 2021. The man whose chainsaw was stolen saw the Stihl unit on the site and asked his brother to set up a meeting at the Sardis Sports Complex.
The man also called the Chilliwack RCMP who asked him to call off the meeting. He refused, so police set up a surveillance team at the scene.
Kizmann showed up driving a silver Honda Civic and parked next to the buyer’s vehicle. Police watched Kizmann get out of the car, open the trunk and pull out a chainsaw.
READ MORE: Trial starts for Chilliwack prolific offender facing drug trafficking charges
Mounties moved in and arrested him for possession of stolen property. But while Kizmann was being escorted to the detachment, officers searched the Civic and found a “substantial” amount of illegal drugs in six containers, mostly fentanyl/carfentanil and methamphetmine.
In going over the evidence while reading his judgment on Tuesday (March 28), Justice Michael Thomas said the 114 grams of illegal drugs found were estimated to have a street value of between $12,000 and $24,000.
The entire hearing on Tuesday was held via video with Thomas, Crown counsel Rebecca Gill and Kizmann’s lawyer on the screen in courtroom 202 in Chilliwack. Kizmann was also on video from pre-trial custody and was wearing a short-sleeve orange jumpsuit with a full beard.
There was no question of identity, or that the illegal drugs were in the Civic, but Kizmann’s lawyer attempted to raise reasonable doubt regarding whether Kizmann knew the drugs were in the car.
Kizmann is a prohibited driver and the vehicle was owned by another person, who himself has been convicted of fraud in the past. He initially said he was going to show up to the meeting in a pickup truck but arrived in the Civic. These pieces of evidence along with the fact that Kizmann was not terribly distressed at being arrested, pointed in favour of the accused, according to Justice Thomas.
Still, Thomas concluded that the Crown had proven its circumstantial possession for the purpose of trafficking case beyond a reasonable doubt. Kizmann was also found guilty of the illegal chainsaw possession.
Defence counsel asked that a pre-sentence report be written before sentencing, which will take five to six weeks.
The case was put over to fix a date for that sentencing.
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