DEALER GIVEN CONDITIONAL SENTENCE

A Victoria man who was selling drugs while having a coffee at local pub
received a conditional sentence Friday and a tongue-lashing from the judge.

David Cooper, 41, pleaded guilty in Victoria provincial court to possession
for trafficking in a controlled substance.

Crown lawyer Patrick Weir told the court a bartender at the Flying Beagle
Pub at 301 Cook St. called police May 23, 2001, after he saw Cooper acting
suspiciously -- nursing a coffee for an inordinate amount of time while a
stream of people stopped by his table.

Victoria police arrived. Cooper surrendered his knapsack and said, "I've
got half a pound."

In fact, police found close to a pound of marijuana in the knapsack, an
unusually large amount for drug traffickers to carry. The value of the
drugs was between $2,000 and $3,000, Weir said.

Police also found a scale, a score sheet and two marijuana joints.

Cooper has a criminal record, but his last conviction for drugs was in 1988.

"What in the world did you think you were doing?" Judge Brian Neal asked
Cooper.

"Trying to make some extra money, sir," Cooper replied.

Neal told Cooper a conditional sentence of nine months should serve as a
wake-up call. He noted that while Cooper has a criminal record, including
some very serious convictions, he has kept out of trouble since 1994.

Under the conditional sentence, Cooper is to serve his time in the
community with certain constraints, such as reporting to a supervisor. He
also was fined $750 and told to obey a curfew of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Should he
break the curfew or other conditions of his sentence, he could go to jail.