A Halifax Regional Police officer who resigned Monday has been sentenced to house arrest after pleading guilty to breaching the public trust.
Jeffrey Buchanan, a four-and-a-half-year veteran of HRP who served as a constable, was sentenced to six months house arrest, followed by a six-month curfew and two years probation at Halifax provincial court yesterday.
Buchanan was charged in December of 2009 with attempting to extort money from a convicted drug dealer.
He was also suspended by the force pending the case’s outcome.
Buchanan pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of breaching the public trust in court yesterday.
The Crown offered no evidence on the charge of extortion.
The court heard Buchanan was on duty when he pulled over convicted drug dealer Shawn Banfield on Dec. 10, 2009.
Buchanan then seized a small calibre handgun and a quantity of drugs, but didn’t turn them in.
Buchanan later returned the drugs and firearm to Banfield at a different location.
Buchanan told Judge Del Atwood he was “sorry for all of this,” and that it would not happen again.
