OFFICER SET UP HOMELESS ADDICT TO SELL POT

Former VPD member pleads guilty to drug trafficking, breach of trust

Former Vancouver police officer Peter Hodson supplied marijuana to a
street level dealer for months, sometimes meeting him while on-shift
in uniform and driving a marked police car, Vancouver Provincial
Court heard Thursday.

That dealer later told police he felt threatened and intimidated by
Hodson when the cop was trying to collect an $1,800 debt the dealer
owed for some missing pot.

Crown prosecutor Joe Bellows told Hodson's sentencing hearing that
the disgraced exofficer should spend 3 1/2 years behind bars.

Hodson's lawyer, Vince Michaels, wants his client to serve any
sentence he gets in the community so he can provide for his young family.

Now 32, Hodson pleaded guilty Nov. 30 before Judge Gregory Rideout to
one count of drug trafficking and two counts of breach of trust after
he was caught in a 2010 undercover investigation launched by his own
department.

For the first time Thursday, Hodson's misdeeds were laid out in
detail from text messages, intercepted phone calls, video
surveillance and witness statements to police.

Bellows also read a letter from Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu, who
said his officers "were shaken and literally in disbelief" over
Hodson's crimes.

"When a police officer engages in the kind of outrageous criminal
conduct that Peter Hodson displayed, the damage to public confidence
and the hard-won reputation of the VPD is incalculable," Chu said.
"In violating his oath of office, Peter Hodson betrayed himself, his
colleagues and the public in the most shameful way."

Four years after Hodson joined the force in 2005, he asked homeless
crack addict Tyson Pappas to work for him in the drug trade, Bellows said.

Hodson set Pappas up at the London Rooms on East Georgia, got him a
cellphone and later delivered a fridge full of pot for Pappas to
sell, Bellows said.

The cop also gave Pappas scales and zip-lock bags and suggested the
dealer get business cards to increase profits.

In December 2009, Pappas was arrested by the VPD with 23 grams of the
marijuana for which he had not yet paid Hodson.

One of Hodson's breach of trust counts relates to his accessing the
PRIME police database to look up Pappas's arrest report while on
shift on Dec. 31, 2009.

Afterwards, Hodson sent a text to Pappas: "Just read the file. You
are treating me like I am f---ing stupid."

Pappas was injured in a stabbing in January that was being
investigated by the VPD. Afterwards, he told Hodson he didn't want to
sell pot any more, Bellows said.

Around the same time, a detective working with Hodson became
concerned when the young officer -who was separated at the time
- -started talking about having to earn extra cash to support two mistresses.

In addition, Hodson commented that someone could make $100,000 a year
from a marijuana-growing operation, Bellows said.

On Feb. 19, 2010, Pappas reported Hodson to the VPD, launching the
probe that would end the young cop's career. Pappas agreed to work as
a police agent.

Ten different drugs-formoney transactions were set up between April 4
and 15, 2010, as part of the undercover sting. Many of the meets took
place in the parking lot of the McDonalds at Main and Terminal in Vancouver.

Sometimes Hodson would send the marijuana with his accomplice, Oscar
Lapitan, who has also pleaded guilty to trafficking. He is to be
sentenced June 16.

Right before Hodson's arrest, in April of last year, he made a deal
with an undercover officer to supply half a pound of pot every Friday
for $1,500.

Bellows said that Hodson "showed no emotion at all" when he was taken
into custody by his fellow officers.

Investigators "informed me that they were more emotional than he
was," Bellows said. "They described him as very detached."

Hodson's lawyer will present his arguments June 7. But he made it
clear Thursday he is disputing any suggestion that Hodson used
threats or intimidation while dealing with Pappas.

Outside court, Hodson, his wife by his side and surrounded by
supporters, said he is looking forward to telling his side of the
story to the judge.

"I take full responsibility and I look forward to going to court," he said.