Bail has been revoked for a Burnaby man whose sentencing for drug and weapon charges dating back to 2019 was interrupted by his arrest on new charges of criminally harassing his wife.
Matthew Borden, 35, was charged in March 2021 after a two-year police investigation into what the province’s anti-gang agency called an “organized crime, drug trafficking organization.”
The probe had led the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit to two properties in August 2019 – a home in Surrey and Borden’s Victory Street condo in Burnaby – where search warrants turned up a loaded, untraceable semi-automatic handgun, an automatic AR-15-style rifle, 200 rounds of ammunition, 2.25 kilograms of cocaine, 700 grams of heroin, 5.5 kilograms of phenacetin (a common cutting agent), more than $100,000 in cash, jewelry and three vehicles, according to a police news release at the time.
Even before charges were approved in the case, the province’s civil forfeiture office launched a civil suit claiming property seized during the raids was the proceeds of crime and should be forfeited to the government.
Borden pleaded guilty in December 2021 to two charges: possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm, according to the Vancouver provincial court registry.
At the same hearing, he also pleaded guilty to charges related to his wife: publishing an intimate image without consent and breaching bail conditions he was under at the time.
He had originally been charged with criminal harassment, assault by choking, publishing an intimate image without consent and numerous bail breaches in that case.
His sentencing was delayed because of problems with pre-sentence reports, but a hearing was finally set for June 8 and 9, according to the registry.
Before sentencing could go ahead, however, Borden was arrested on new charges.
On June 5, Borden was charged with two new counts of publishing an intimate image of his wife without consent and another count of criminal harassment, according to registry records.
Borden had been out on bail awaiting sentencing, but B.C. provincial court Judge Donna Senniw revoked his bail at a hearing on June 23.
Information presented at the bail hearing, including Senniw’s reasons for revoking Borden’s bail cannot be published because of a publication ban.
A new sentencing hearing has been set for November 29, 2023.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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