HALIFAX -- A sailboat captain caught smuggling 250 kilograms of cocaine from the Caribbean to a Nova Scotia boatyard has undergone surgery, forcing a judge to postpone his sentencing.
Jacques John Grenier's lawyer Brad Sarson appeared in Halifax provincial court Monday on his client's behalf and told Judge Gregory Lenehan that Grenier had undergone surgery and was still recovering.
His sentencing hearing was adjourned until February 26.
Sarson has said he does not expect there will be a joint recommendation with the Crown for Grenier's sentence on charges of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and importing cocaine.
A third charge against Grenier -- conspiracy to import cocaine -- has yet to be dealt with.
The Hubbards, N.S., man entered the pleas last November after the Canada Border Services Agency boarded the boat in September at a marina near Halifax.
Officers had found several bricks of cocaine hidden inside a sealed bed frame on the Canadian-registered, eight-metre boat called Quesera, which had arrived from the small Caribbean island of Saint Martin.
Another man, Luc Chevrefils of Quebec, is facing charges of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and conspiracy to import cocaine in relation to the same incident.
Federal Crown lawyer Glen Scheuer, who is prosecuting both cases, said Chevrefils appeared in court on Friday and his case was adjourned until Feb. 23.
He has not yet entered pleas.
The agency said at the time that it was unusual to find such a large stash in a small boat.
