A large police undercover operation into a cocaine drug trafficking network in Bradford came to a close in Barrie court Thursday afternoon with relatively light sentences.
Police executed a sweep, dubbed Project Full Moon – a five-week undercover operation on the streets of Bradford in March 2012.
The operation included South Simcoe, Barrie and Toronto police. The investigation ended at a bar in downtown Bradford called Timmy D’s. It was owned by Timothy Driscoll, 52, who at the time police alleged was the ring-leader of the operation.
Court heard various undercover officers bought cocaine from men who would then either go into Driscoll’s bar – or into Driscoll’s nearby waiting Cadillac – then return with cocaine and sell it to the officers.
However in the end – following a lengthy preliminary hearing in court – the Crown conceded that nothing more could be proved against Driscoll other than a small amount of cocaine that was found in the office of his bar.
He plead guilty today to one count of possession of 0.7 grams of cocaine and was fined $1,000. Driscoll’s lawyer said he has since lost his bar and will be moving to his hometown in Texas.
Seventeen other men were also arrested in the sweep – their convictions ranged from fines of about $1,000 to weekend jail sentences, conditional sentences, and probation.
