A man arrested in a drug raid in 2009 was sentenced two years of house arrest on Monday after pleading guilty to possession of ketamine for the purposes of trafficking.
Tyler James Youzwa was sentenced to the term after pleading guilty to the single count of possessing 80 grams of the drug, which is relatively rare as a street drug and was originally created as a veterinary sedative.
Police officers raided a home in the Forest Lawn area in December 2009 and found the drug along with nearly $5,000 cash, scales and baggies that indicated a trafficking operation.
Crown prosecutor Kevin Short said he had been impressed with Youzwa’s moves and behaviour since his arrest, noting he had lived up to strict bail conditions, entered into a trade and according to police moved entirely away from the people he was associating with prior to his arrest.
The house arrest term includes 240 hours of community service, which Short said he viewed as an important part of the sentence.
“It adds a component of paying the community back for pushing this stuff into the community.”
Youzwa’s lawyer Jake Chadi said his client had dramatically turned his life around since his arrest and despite the delay had always intended to plead guilty and accept responsibility.
Chadi said Youzwa began using drugs at 14 and was gradually brought into selling.
Judge Norman Mackie said he was pleased to see Youzwa turning things around, while similarly being disturbed that he had got involved with trafficking in the first place.
“It disturbs me that you fell into the trap of the drug world at that young age.”
Over the course of the two-year house arrest Youzwa will be confined to his home for the first 15 months, with allowances to leave only for work or schooling and to complete his community service work.
He is prohibited from drinking, from taking any non-prescribed drugs and from owning any weapons. For the last nine months of the term he will have a nightly curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Mackie cautioned him the court system does not take kindly to people who breach such sentences and mentioned his practice as a judge is to send someone to jail if they breach a house arrest term.
