The "shocking" actions of a
former Vancouver police officer who sold marijuana while on duty deserve severe
punishment, said a judge who handed down a three-year prison sentence.
Peter Andrew Hodson, 32, was caught last year selling drugs
during an elaborate undercover police operation.
"Your remarkable fall
from grace is a burden that will stay with you for life," Vancouver Provincial
Court Judge Gregory Rideout told Hodson before sheriffs handcuffed him and led
him away to begin serving his sentence.
Hodson, who had been an officer
since 2006, pleaded guilty last November to drug trafficking and three counts of
breach of trust, including one count for improperly accessing a police computer
database known as PRIME.
Prosecutor Joe Bellows had asked Rideout to
impose a 3.5-year sentence on Hodson, who was fired after he was
arrested.
During an undercover operation, police observed Hodson buying
and selling drugs using another accomplice, Oscar Lapitan, who also pleaded
guilty and received a one-year conditional sentence.
Before Hodson's
arrest in April last year, he made a deal with an undercover officer to supply
half a pound of pot every Friday for $1,500.
