A pair of drug dealers were sentenced in Estevan provincial court on Monday.
Fernand Richard Dallaire, an Estevan resident, provided a guilty plea to drug charges and gave a joint submission to the court recommending three months of incarceration.
Judge Jeffrey Kalmakoff noted the sentence was on the low-end of what would be expected from a trafficking charge, but Dallaire had short criminal record and nothing drug-related. The 49-year-old was arrested in 2009 after selling marijuana to an undercover police officer.
"I think having taken all things into account, the sentence being jointly suggested here, in light of your record, in light of nature of the offence, it is an appropriate sentence," said Kalmakoff. "It's at the low end of the appropriate range, but I take into account that this particular offence has had a significant impact on you, in terms of the bail conditions that were put on you that were quite restrictive."
He noted the bail conditions were put on Dallaire because he broke the law, but were restrictive and he's been living under them since his arrest. Kalmakoff agreed with the joint submission, and Dallaire received a three-month jail sentence.
In other court news, Candace Mowbray was sentenced for her drug charges after she changed her plea to guilty. She was arrested after selling marijuana but does not have a criminal record.
The 28-year-old Estevan mother of one was sentenced to six months to be served in the community. For the first month, she will be under house arrest, while the last five she will be under a curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Kalmakoff said the sentence was appropriate seeing how she had no record and was accepting responsibility with a guilty plea.
He said however, "I do consider it serious that you initially thought you were participating in a cocaine transaction, which was in fact involving marijuana."
He said a jail sentence would be appropriate, but under the circumstances the matter could be dealt with by way of the six-month conditional sentence.
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On April 7 a local man pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, after an incident on March 5.
Coulter Pospisil also pleaded guilty to charges of breaking and entering and uttering threats. All charges are considered indictable offences. Kalmakoff was reluctant to accept the guilty plea without Pospisil considering legal counsel.
"With respect to the first charge, it wouldn't surprise me if you're looking at a jail sentence for that type of an offence," said Kalmakoff. "Knowing that, do you still wish to go ahead with your plea, or do you want to get legal advice?"
Pospisil said he wanted to go ahead with his guilty plea. He then elected to be tried by a judge alone for the indictable matters.
"You understand that this is a very serious type of offence?" Kalmakoff said to him. "It is the type of offence for which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment. Do you understand that?"
"Yes," Pospisil replied. He then told the court he did not need to see the disclosure against him.
Crown prosecutor Bill Burge told the court he had just received the file for the case.
"My quick review of it is, it seems as serious as it looks on its face," Burge said. Considering that Pospisil was unrepresented, he suggested a pre-sentence report be submitted. He noted Pospisil had a criminal record but no previous convictions involving violence.
Kalmakoff ordered the pre-sentence report be prepared and the matter was adjourned until May 30 for sentencing.
In other court business, Ryan Veroba was released from custody on a recognizance in the amount of $1,000, after a show-cause hearing.
The 19-year-old Estevan resident was in custody after a breaching a number of conditions of his probation. He was to be released under the surety of one of his parents, but until that time he would remain in custody.
