Local man gets 68 days for various charges
A Medicine Hat man has been sentenced to 68 days in jail for carrying a concealed weapon, possessing stolen ID, a failure to follow a no-contact order and mischief.
Christopher A. Munro, 25, pled guilty to the charges Thursday at the Medicine Hat courthouse, and with time served in pretrial custody counted has 30 days left of his sentence.
The charges stem from Oct. 2, when Medicine Hat police made a vehicle stop, and Munro was a passenger. Munro had a no-contact order with another passenger in the vehicle, Teressa-Joy Ledarney. Upon searching Munro, police found a four-inch steel-fixed blade knife tied around his neck with a shoelace, as well as a drivers license not belonging to him that had been stolen, and a marijuana cigarette. A probation orders meant that Munro was not allowed to be in possession of a weapon, save for a knife for culinary purposes.
When taken back to the police station, Munro smashed and damaged the receiver of the MHP phone during a bail hearing with the Justice of the Peace.
Ledarney was also arrested at the vehicle stop, and on Tuesday pled guilty and received a 90-day jail term with 69 days left to serve as police found her with a drivers licence and TD Bank cheque not belonging to her, small knives, and a billiard ball in a sock in her purse. Ledarney also pled guilty to not following a probation order.
Preliminary trial
Three men facing drug trafficking charges will have a preliminary trial in April.
Legal counsel for Cole Lee, Jamie Vorra, and Justin Tye were before the court Thursday for their clients — all three of which have entered not guilty pleas, and with a preliminary trial set for April 5, 6 and 7 before the Queen’s Bench Judge.
Lee faces multiple weapons charges, and drug possession and trafficking charges, while Vorra faces multiple charges over weapons and drug possessions. While Tye faces just one count of possession for purpose of trafficking.
Sentencing delayed
Sentencing for Wayne Shrubsall has been pushed back for another week. Shrubsall has pled guilty to drug trafficking and other charges — some stemming from the first appearance of “purple meth” in Medicine Hat earlier this year — but his defence counsel is awaiting matters Shrubsall has in Saskatchewan to properly be transferred over to Alberta so all charges can be resolved at once.
Not guilty plea
A not-guilty plea was entered by Michael Joseph Briand Thursday over multiple drug-related charges, opting to be heard before a Queen’s Bench judge and jury, with a preliminary hearing date still to be set.
Briand faces two counts of trafficking a controlled substance, possession for purpose of trafficking, and drug possession.
Appearance
A man arrested this weekend on drug trafficking charges made a brief court appearance Thursday, and had his matters adjourned until Nov. 10. Aaron Hotchen, 51, was arrested on Oct. 22 near Seven Persons bylaw enforcement and faces multiple drug trafficking charges, firearms related charges and more.
Local defence lawyer Lyndon Heidinger has already been retained by Hotchen, who made his first appearance on Tuesday. Hotchen also has a trial in Brooks for Jan. 16, 2017 over other charges.