ESTEVAN — A third person has pleaded guilty in connection with a substantial drug bust in Estevan last year.
Jessica Louise Rutter-McKeen pleaded guilty to one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking methamphetamine during an Aug. 18 appearance in Estevan Provincial Court. Several other charges – possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine, trafficking cocaine, trafficking methamphetamine and possession of property obtained by crime exceeding $5,000 – were stayed.
She was sentenced to an 18-month conditional sentence order with standard provisions to be followed.
The guilty plea came a week before a preliminary hearing was scheduled to begin regarding her charges.
Prosecutor Alexander Deacon told the court that in January 2024, the Estevan Police Service started receiving confidential source information that a number of individuals were trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine in the city. The EPS started conducting surveillance on multiple people, including Rutter-McKeen's husband Brennan Stephen McKeen, who Deacon said was seen making hand-to-hand transactions with people throughout Estevan.
On Aug. 9 of last year, the day of the arrests, Deacon said the McKeens were seen going to a self-storage facility trailer. They returned to their vehicle and left the area, at which time police conducted a traffic stop with a search warrant for the vehicle.
“They located two cell phones, $1,130 in cash in various locations, a dime bag with methamphetamine weighing in at 2.4 grams, score sheets on envelopes and 42.9 grams of methamphetamine in a Ziploc bag,” Deacon said.
When police searched the McKeens’ residence, Deacon said they located drug paraphernalia, a scale and a wooden box with three envelopes containing $6,730 in cash. At the storage unit, in a locked safe, the EPS found 11 Ziploc bags with individually-wrapped dime bags of cocaine.
Deacon noted Rutter-McKeen does not have a criminal record, and he called it a “fairly restrained sentence”, but he added the court has to take into account the “devastation and the tragedy that drugs cause in communities across Saskatchewan.”
Rutter-McKeen's lawyer Cassan Geiler said Rutter-McKeen and her husband lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They were about to lose their house, and essentially were in a desperate situation,” said Geiler.
She described the sentence as a true “quid pro quo” as far as a joint submission, as there would have been trial issues. Geiler believes the sentence is sufficiently punitive.
In going along with the joint submission, Judge Mitch Miller asked Rutter-McKeen if she had thought about the impact of drugs on the community – a question he has asked to people pleading guilty to similar charges.
“Are there addicts out there because of what you did? Just think of that. I don’t want an answer, but it’s something to think about,” said Miller.
The impacts of drugs are far, wide and severe, Miller said.
Brennan McKeen pleaded guilty in July to possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine. Other charges were stayed. He is slated to be sentenced Sept. 8.
Another co-accused, Devon William Martell, pleaded guilty Aug. 12 to trafficking cocaine in connection with the drug bust last year, and other charges stemming from conditions breaches this year. He was sentenced to a 24-month conditional sentence order.
Charges against a fourth person were stayed earlier this year.
According to the EPS, the drugs seized had a street value of $150,000. Cash and numerous other items were also seized.
