The fast-money life for an Ottawa couple has come to an abrupt end, with the freshly-engaged lovers off to prison for supplying the street with hard drugs, including deadly fentanyl.

Joshua Eyamie-Binks, 31, and Cortney Rattray-Johnson, 27, dabbed at tears as they pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and possession of all the restricted guns that went hand-in-hand with their hard-drug business.

They expressed remorse and have announced plans to get married once released from prison.

Eyamie-Binks was sentenced earlier this week to 10 years in prison, and his fiancée, Rattray-Johnson, is scheduled to be sentenced later this summer to eight years.

Ontario Court Justice Ann Alder told court that fentanyl is a type of “deadly weapon” and hopes that the federal sentences will send a clear message to other hard-drug dealers.

The judge noted that the couple was running an outlawed drug store, selling “some of the most dangerous and deadly drugs we have on our streets today.”

That the drug-dealing couple had guns (semi-automatic assault rifle, two 12-gauge shotguns, a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver, and a Glock .40) made for a “lethal combination,” the judge said.

Eyamie-Binks, a father of three young children, stood in the prisoner’s box and said:

“I just want to say I know I messed up and I’m taking responsibility for it. I plan on changing my life after this. I’m sorry for putting my family through this. I really don’t know what to say. I hope I didn’t hurt anybody.”

The judge later noted otherwise.

“Of course you did (hurt people), it may have not been your intention, and maybe you didn’t think it through. You were selling drugs to people who wanted it and you were making money, but I can guarantee that you did hurt many, many people.”

Ottawa police targeted the couple after they got a tip in September 2016 that they were trafficking large quantities of fentanyl, drug of death. The police investigation, praised by the judge, was exhaustive and included video surveillance that captured the couple, red-handed, moving bags of drugs and guns from stash rooms. Police also planted tracking devices on Eyamie-Binks car showing him moving drugs, guns and money from a stash house to a storage locker.

The police investigation culminated on February 16 when police executed 11 search warrants — five homes, one storage locker, and five vehicles — and seized a large quantity of hard drugs, several firearms and $136,000 found hidden throughout one of the homes.

The police seized 19.17 grams of straight powdered fentanyl. It might not look like a lot on paper, but it is.

According to Ottawa police drug unit Staff Sgt. Rick Carey, 19 grams of straight fentanyl powder (in a laboratory setting) could translate to about 52,000 microgram doses.

“That’s what makes … fentanyl so dangerous on the streets. It’s not being processed in a laboratory. Some guy decides to mix it in a blender in his basement and you have no idea how much is contained in any one dose. It takes so little to actually cause an overdose,” Carey said in a statement to the Citizen.

Ottawa police test results of the drugs seized in this case showed that heroin had been cut with fentanyl and some of the seized cocaine had traces of the killer drug.

The judge said Eyamie-Binks and Rattray-Johnson would have got more time had they not pleaded guilty early in the face of what she called a strong police case. The judge noted that they saved court costs by pleading guilty.

“I hope this does send a message to others that taking responsibility early on for their actions will help them in the long run in their sentence and more importantly assist in the administration of justice and the community at large,” Alder said.

It should be noted that in this case, that of all the hard drugs seized, police did not find any counterfeit pills — contrary to media reports at the time of their arrest.

The couple was supported by friends and family at the court hearing.

“I really screwed up this time,” said Rattray-Johnson, a hairdresser, after she pleaded guilty. “I went down the wrong path and now it’s time for a total overhaul of my life.”

She also said her fiancé is the “best man I’ve ever met.”

Hard drugs seized by police in the bust included fentanyl, meth, MDMA, morphine, bath salts, hydromorpone, heroin, cocaine, ketamine, and xanax.

Eyamie-Binks, the ringleader of the drug operation, says he has hopes of opening a bistro and making an honest living once released from prison. Several others arrested in the bust are awaiting court dates.

gdimmock@postmedia.com

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