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HAMPTON A Saint John plumber taking powerful, addictive painkillers for leg and back pain turned out to be "the goose that laid the golden egg" for a pair of street-savvy drug dealers. Now the plumber has a criminal record as a drug dealer.

Eric Cameron Bruce was sentenced in Hampton Provincial Court April 29 for selling the drug Dilaudid in the Kennebecasis Valley area, but based on the his clean record and limited involvement in the scheme, Judge Henrik Tonning gave him a conditional 12-month sentence.

When Bruce changed his plea to guilty on the charge March 25, defence lawyer Brian Munro had the court clarify the charge to trafficking Dilaudid between Nov. 1, 2006 and March 14, 2007. Bruce had originally been charged with conspiring with Scott Barton and Nicholas Guthrie to sell the drug.

Referring to his client's "simple nature," Munro explained that Bruce had a legitimate prescription for Dilaudid for pain following an injury.

When Barton and Guthrie moved in to do some work for him, they convinced Bruce it would be profitable to skim some of his pills for resale.

Crown prosecutor Kelly Winchester said Bruce would give the younger men 15 or 20 Dilaudid pills for $15 a pill each time he got a prescription for 100 filled.

Then they'd borrow his van to go out and resell the pills, which can be worth considerably more on the street among addicts.

Bruce, who Munro described as "naive," had no prior record and his family and friends were shocked to learn he was involved with selling drugs.

"How'd you get sucked in by these two?" Judge Henrik Tonning asked, referring to Barton and Guthrie who've both pleaded guilty to trafficking charges.

Barton, who had an extensive record, got a lengthy jail sentence. Guthrie, when he pleaded guilty in March, indicated he'd moved to Moncton, had a job and was living with his sister while working to complete his Grade 12 diploma. At his sentencing, however, duty counsel John King said Probation Services hasn't been able to reach Guthrie, 23, at his new address and contact numbers.

"I'm really sorry for this mess," Bruce told the judge, "and I'd like to have it right if I could."

Munro said Bruce, 49, works as a plumber, supports his girlfriend and her two children and hasn't been drinking or using any drugs since last fall.

"You had limited involvement in this scheme and you're not involved in the drug culture. Because of your employment and family support, you don't strike me as the average drug dealer," said Tonning of the defendant's pre-sentence report.

"It comes through loud and clear you were taken advantage of," he concluded, advising Bruce to be more careful of who he associates with and what they ask of him.

Under the conditions of his sentence, Bruce is to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, be at home from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. except for when work warrants being out later, to abstain from non-prescription drugs and have no contact with Barton and Guthrie.