Raymond J. Christenson, 45, pleaded guilty in Estevan Provincial Court on Monday to possession of cocaine.
He pleaded guilty to possession as opposed to the original charge of trafficking in cocaine. That charge was withdrawn upon his guilty plea to the possession charge.
The charges stem from events around noon on May 31, 2017. According to Crown prosecutor Scott Moffat, Christenson had picked up another person in his truck and went to 7-Eleven on Souris Avenue North. When he exited the truck, police moved in and made their arrests.
In the cupholder, police found 3.9 grams of cocaine with a street value of approximately $1,000.
He noted that Christenson is a professional geologist, with 20 years experience in the oilfield. He is married with three children.
It was noted that the case has been “devastating” to Christenson, as he was essentially on house arrest. More significantly, the truck, a 2011 Ford Raptor, was forfeited. The Crown asked for a six-month conditional discharge which would include counselling and addictions treatment.
Given an opportunity by Judge Lane Wiegers to speak on his own behalf, Christenson said he felt the Estevan Police Service officers had made a mistake, and had been malicious.
“To be branded a drug dealer was very bad,” he told the judge. Nevertheless, he had just entered a guilty plea to possession, and the judge, before accepting it, confirmed that no one had put him up to it.
Wiegers responded that in most cases like this, the accused would not get a conditional discharge. But given Christenson had no prior criminal record, had entered a guilty plea and had been an active member of society, he would give Christenson a conditional discharge. He placed Christenson on probation for six months, and he has to take any counselling ordered by the probation officer. He also has to pay a $200 victim surcharge within a month.
Christenson asked that the phone that was seized be returned to him, as he had a license on it, and he needed it to contact Google to get the drug trafficking references to him removed from the Internet. It also had information needed for him to file his taxes.
Moffat responded that the phone was still evidence in the case against the second person charged at the time, and that was the end of that.
Also in court on Monday, Xavier Ackrill pleaded guilty to driving with a blood alcohol content above .08.
At 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 8, Ackrill hit an icy corner on George Street in Estevan. His vehicle ended up in a yard, hitting a tree. Someone called in the incident, as had Ackrill, who had left the scene. Ackrill phoned police and admitted his involvement.
According to sentencing arguments made in court by Crown prosecutor Ali Shah, breath samples were demanded of Ackrill, and he blew blood alcohol levels of .190 and .160, both at least double the legal limit of .08.
Ackrill, representing himself, pleaded guilty to driving with a blood alcohol level in excess of .08.
“It was just an accident that wasn’t supposed to happen,” he told Judge Lane Wiegers.
Wiegers countered by saying accidents are much more likely if you are impaired.
“This could have been a lot worse,” he told Ackrill.
He sentenced Ackrill to a $1,200 fine, $360 victim surcharge, and a one-year driving prohibition.
Ackrill asked if he could apply for a “blowbox” to be installed in his vehicle. Wiegers responded that was up to SGI, and he could apply for it and a restricted licence after 90 days.
