A man caught with ketamine and GHB during a traffic stop was sentenced to nine months of house arrest this week.
Steven McKell, 26, pleaded guilty to a single count each of possession of a controlled substance, dangerous driving and possession of the proceeds of crime.
St. Albert RCMP responded to several calls about an erratic driver on Jan. 24, 2010. When they pulled the driver over he seemed impaired, but officers did not believe he was impaired by alcohol.
When they searched his vehicle they discovered an ounce of ketamine and 50ml of GHB or gamma-hydroxybutyrate. They also found scales and a significant amount of cash.
McKell was originally charged with trafficking but those charges were downgraded to simple possession charges as part of a plea arrangement.
The joint submission, put forward by federal Crown prosecutor Kevin Short and defence lawyer William Tatarchuk, called for a nine-month house arrest.
Judge Bruce Garriock agreed with the sentence and set conditions that will keep McKell inside 24 hours a day for the first three months of the sentence.
In the last six months of the sentence he will have to respect a curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
He will also have to abstain completely from alcohol and drugs. Garriock also ordered him to do 60 hours of community service work.
A man caught with a stolen plate on an otherwise legal vehicle was handed another 11 days in jail.
John Tomaszeski pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of stolen property and was handed a 15-day jail term with credit for four days he had already served.
Tomaszeski was pulled over for speeding on Nov. 25 and when an officer checked his licence plate it did not match the vehicle he was driving.
He admitted to having purchased the plate from someone and through his lawyer told the court he had a good idea it wasn’t legal.
