A 60-year-old man will have to pay a $2,000 fine for possession of a controlled substance after a hospital worker found 45 grams of cocaine in his pocket earlier this year.
Marcel James Carothers pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance during a June 23 appearance in the Athabasca Court of Justice as part of a joint submission between defence counsel Andrew Zebak and Erwin Schulz, who was acting as an agent for the federal prosecution.
The charge stemmed from a March 28 incident where Athabasca RCMP officers responded to a single-vehicle rollover. Carothers was transported to the healthcare centre for treatment for injuries sustained in the incident where an attendant located the drugs in his pocket and reported it to the RCMP. Schulz estimated the street value to be about $80 a gram, or $3,600 in total.
Zebak kept his submissions brief, asking for a year to pay on behalf of his client, who was unemployed and reliant on Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) due to a brain injury sustained in a robbery five years ago.
The plea marked Carothers second conviction for a controlled substance. According to Zebak, he paid a $1,000 fine for a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) offence in the Wabasca Court of Justice in 2020.
Justice Carrie-Ann Downey accepted the joint submission, which will give Carothers a year to pay the fine. If he doesn’t, he risks a 16 day jail sentence in default of payment.
“You don’t have to pay it all at once, I’m sure you know how that works. You can pay it off slowly if you need to and you can always try for an extension based on what I’ve been told about you and your situation,” said Downey.
Carothers is due back in court Oct. 20 for a full day trial for an outstanding assault causing bodily harm charge.
