Man pleads guilty to trafficking charges
An Edmonton man charged with manslaughter in connection to a fatal fentanyl overdose admitted Tuesday telling an undercover police officer in a separate case that taking a whole pill would kill her.
Jordan Yarmey, 27, pleaded guilty to three counts of drug trafficking in a case separate from the death of Szymon Kalich.
Kalich, 33, was found dead in the hallway of an apartment building near 33 Street and 18 Avenue on Jan. 27, 2016.
After Yarmey’s arrest, his parents told Postmedia that their son has addiction issues and that he was doing drugs alongside Kalich.
Following an autopsy and toxicology testing, it was determined that Kalich died of a fentanyl overdose, Edmonton police said when Yarmey was charged in the case in October 2016.
But Yarmey was also separately charged with drug offences following an RCMP undercover operation. On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to three counts of trafficking a controlled substance in that case.
The investigation, which began in the fall of 2015, ultimately led to officers setting up transactions during which Yarmey sold them drugs, according to an agreed statement of facts entered with the court Tuesday.
He sold an officer 2.1 grams of cocaine for $200 during the first transaction Jan. 7, 2016, outside his condo in southeast Edmonton. The undercover officer also asked Yarmey if he could get her some “greenies” — a street name for fentanyl — and he said he could.
At their next meeting on Jan. 12, Yarmey gave the officer nine fentanyl pills in exchange for $300.
“During the sale, Mr. Yarmey said he gets lots of lines out of one pill and the undercover officer should not do a whole pill at once because it would kill her,” federal prosecutor Dennis Hrabcak said as he read the facts into the court record.
The third trafficking incident Yarmey admitted to was on Jan. 27, the same day and just hours after police said Kalich’s body was found. Court heard that at 6:17 p.m., Yarmey and the officer drove to a Tim Hortons for coffee. Before getting out of the truck, Yarmey gave the officer 12 fentanyl pills for $400. He was arrested as he entered the coffee shop.
Defence lawyer Timothy Dunlap told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Dawn Pentelechuk that additional facts may be added at a later hearing.
Yarmey was the first person Edmonton police charged with manslaughter in connection to a fentanyl overdose. Since then, manslaughter charges have been laid by city police in two other fatal fentanyl cases.
Fentanyl is known for its potency, and is stated as being up to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to a report on the drug written by Alberta’s chief toxicologist, Dr. Graham Jones. A copy of the report was filed with the court Tuesday.
The report notes that though a “lethal dose” of fentanyl is estimated at two milligrams, that amount is likely lower for many people.
Yarmey remains free on bail, and is expected to be sentenced for the trafficking convictions later this year. A pre-trial conference in the manslaughter case is scheduled for Aug. 2.