A Calgary man was handed a nine-month conditional sentence Monday for possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Alexander Joseph Suave, 22, was originally pulled over by police in Jasper for having tinted windows, but the officer noticed “extreme nervousness” and an odour of raw marijuana, said federal Crown prosecutor Erwin Schultz.
The officer searched the vehicle and found 5.5 pounds of the drug and charged both Suave and his girlfriend, who was a passenger in the vehicle, with possession for the purpose of trafficking.
“I’m sorry your honour. You’re never going to see me in here again,” Suave said in St. Albert Provincial Court. “I do feel extremely bad.”
Suave did not have a criminal record and told the court he no longer smokes marijuana.
He has a curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. for the next nine months and is required to attend counselling or treatment as directed by probation. He was also fined $100.
Schultz withdrew the same charge against co-accused Tonya Ashley Grath after accepting Suave’s guilty plea.
Alcohol is the root of the problem for Marcel Jensen-Allard, who was sentenced to 30 days behind bars for violating two probation orders by consuming alcohol on St. Patrick’s Day.
Jensen-Allard appeared in court via closed-circuit television and pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with probation.
“Sometimes an addict needs to hit rock bottom,” defence lawyer Brad Leebody said. “I hope this is rock bottom.”
He told the court that a St. Albert resident called RCMP after an intoxicated man rang his doorbell and asked to come inside because he did not have shoes. Police canvassed the area and found Jensen-Allard “very intoxicated.”
He has a criminal record, although Leebody said he has never been charged with anything “substantive.”
“You’re spinning in a downward spiral that you’re going to have to get yourself out of,” said Judge Bruce Garriock, adding he hopes he seeks treatment.
An afternoon of drinking netted one man a $500 fine and extended probation, after he pleaded guilty to breaching probation and mischief.
St. Albert RCMP were called to the residence of Michael Scott Cote on Dec. 19, 2011 after his daughter reported he was “grossly intoxicated,” said Crown prosecutor John Donahoe.
Further investigation revealed Cote was on probation at the time and was ordered to abstain from drugs and alcohol.
He was subsequently arrested and transported to the RCMP detachment, where he scratched the phrase “Mad Mike rules” into the wall of the holding cell, prompting the charge of mischief.
