A 23-year-old man was sentenced to 10 months of house arrest on Monday for trafficking in cocaine.
Chad James Winters pleaded guilty to the single count of trafficking and was handed a two-year conditional sentence, which includes the house arrest, plus an additional 14 months under a tight curfew.
Winters was arrested on Feb. 11. Federal Crown prosecutor Kevin Short told the court the St. Albert RCMP drug unit had suspected Winters was part of the drug trade and had him under surveillance.
At one point, police saw Winters in his car approach another vehicle in what they believed was a drug transaction. After the two vehicles pulled away, police stopped Winters’ car and the other vehicle.
In his car they found $60 and one spitball of cocaine and in the other vehicle they found two more spitballs of cocaine.
Short conceded the Crown would have had some difficulty prosecuting the case if not for Winters’ co-operation with officers after the incident. Winters made a full videotaped confession, admitting he had sold the two spitballs to the people in the other car.
Judge Bruce Garriock agreed with the proposal and said the plea combined with the confession were a clear expression of guilt.
“It does indicate that you have accepted responsibility,” he said.
During the first 10 months of his sentence, Winters will only be allowed out for work or school and a handful of other exceptions. In the last 14 months he will have a daily curfew from midnight to 6 a.m.
A man found passed out on the side of the road last week was given financial penalties on Monday.
Albert Dennis Harpe, 60, pleaded guilty to a single count of causing a disturbance and another of breaching his bail conditions and was handed a $400 fine on each.
Police received a call about Harpe last Wednesday evening reporting that there was a man passed out near a utility box on McKenney Avenue and Dawson Road.
When officers arrived they found a severely intoxicated Harpe, who was on release at the time with a condition he not consume alcohol.
