A man will spend the next six months in jail after he tried to find sanctuary in a Sturgeon County home that wasn’t his.
Cain Desjarlais was sentenced in St. Albert court Monday for assault and being unlawfully in a dwelling house dating back to an incident at the Boonstock Music Festival last year.
RCMP were called to a Sturgeon County home located about a kilometre away from the Boonstock grounds on June 29, 2013.
The woman caller stated she saw unknown men in her backyard peering into the windows of her house. Out of fear, she locked herself and her three young children in the bathroom and called her brother and brother-in-law to come over.
When the unknown man, later identified as Desjarlais, gained entry to the house through the garage, he was pummelled to the ground by the two men inside, stated police notes.
Police arrived and arrested the 23-year-old. They found a baggie of cocaine in the pocket of his pants.
On the day in question, Desjarlais was attending Boonstock with his cousin Dixon Bergseth. They had been drinking and doing drugs – specifically cocaine, described his defence counsel.
Desjarlais remembered being chased by four people in green and running through the forest for what seemed like 14 hours. Bergseth gave Desjarlais packets of cocaine to hold; Desjarlais threw some in the trees but forgot to throw the last one away, said defence counsel.
The 23-year-old entered the Sturgeon County home through the dog entrance and into the garage.
“I only went to the house for help,” Desjarlais said to the court. “I am very sorry. I know that lady must have been terrified. I have a child of my own due in two months.”
Desjarlais has no prior criminal record.
Judge Bruce Garriock handed Desjarlais a sentence of six months in jail with an 18-month probation term to follow.
Police could not identify Bergseth as the second unknown man that entered the home. Bergseth was charged with break-and-enter and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, as well as an additional two months for failure to appear in court.
Two people are facing charges of drug trafficking in St. Albert as a result of on-going investigations, RCMP said last week.
Officers from the St. Albert RCM Drug Unit arrested a man and a woman while conducting a search warrant at an Edmonton apartment on Sept. 19. RCMP seized an undisclosed amount of drug including cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, marijuana and Ativan.
Jesse Loewen, 21, of Edmonton as well as a female youth have both been charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, four counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of property obtained by crime and two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
“Even though the search warrant was executed at a residence in Edmonton, the accused individuals were active in trafficking and selling illegal drugs in St. Albert,” said Cpl. Layne Wakefield, in charge of the St. Albert RCMP Drug Unit.
Loewen will be back in St. Albert court Nov. 24. The female youth, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 4.
St. Albert RCMP Drug Unit is interested in any information you may have about drug trafficking. Call the St. Albert RCMP Drug Tip Line at 780-460- DRUG (3784) and provide information. If you have any information about drug trafficking or any crime, call the St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700, or if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
