Man facing drug, weapon charges appears in court

The lawyer for a man arrested earlier this year during a police investigation into organized crime hopes to take a step when her client appears in court next week.

Tracy Hembroff said Wednesday following a brief hearing in Lethbridge provincial court that she wants to set a date for either a preliminary hearing or trial when her client is back in court Oct. 27, but much rests on the availability of the Crown prosecutor assigned to the case. The Crown, who works out of the Calgary office, won’t be available until mid-November, “which doesn’t help me at all,” Hembroff told court.

The accused, 27-year-old Shane Journoud, faces numerous charges, including drug possession, drug possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a loaded firearm, careless storage of a firearm and possession of a prohibited firearm. He is co-accused with Rikki Peters, 22, who is also charged with drug and weapon-related offences and is scheduled to return to court Oct. 27.

Both accused were in court Wednesday, although Journoud, who was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant, appeared by closed-circuit TV from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre where he has been remanded since his arrest this summer.

Journoud and Peters were arrested, along with two others, in relation to a police raid on a home in Coaldale in which $10,000 in cash — considered the proceeds of crime — was seized, along with six firearms, including two loaded 12-gauge sawed-off shotguns and a loaded .22gauge rifle. Police also found during their investigation numerous drugs, including cocaine, oxycondone and oxycocet pills, magic mushrooms, marijuana and fentanyl.

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