Nova Scotia provincial court Judge Alain Bégin put a fine point on the absurdity of the situation with some quick math: it will take 32,000 months for the 68-year-old man he was sentencing on contraband cigarette charges to pay off the massive fines that, by law, had to be imposed.

On Wednesday, David Barrie confirmed he was pleading guilty to two counts related to possessing unstamped tobacco, charges that stemmed from 650,000 illegal cigarettes discovered by RCMP in a van the man was driving t…