Man accused of drug charges wants judge to set aside his guilty pleas

A man facing serious drug trafficking charges had a brief court appearance Thursday, as he looks to have previously entered guilty pleas set aside.

Aaron Grant Hotchen, 52, appeared by CCTV from the Medicine Hat Remand Centre, having his next court appearance set for Nov. 14.

Hotchen entered guilty pleas in September to two counts of possessing meth for the purpose of trafficking, one count of possessing heroin for the purpose of trafficking, possessing a prohibited firearm, violating the order that prohibited him from having a weapon, and two breaches of release conditions. At the time this plea was entered, the agreed statement of facts had been read over and signed by Hotchen, although they weren’t officially read into court and accepted by the judge.

With these pleas, he was granted a brief release from custody — under extremely strict conditions — to put his affairs in order before being sentenced in October.

Since then, defence counsel had to come off the record, and new counsel has been obtained by Hotchen as he wants to have a hearing before a judge to have his guilty pleas set aside.

Police allege that Hotchen was active in meth trafficking throughout southeast Alberta. He was arrested in Bassano last summer, with 141 grams of meth seized following a search of his vehicle. He was then arrested in Oct. 2016 at his rural home near Seven Persons. Police seized 49 grams of meth, heroin and a loaded sawed-off shotgun. Hotchen had a lifetime weapons ban due to previous convictions.

Hotchen was granted bail after both these incidents, but earlier this year was arrested on breaching his release conditions, and the Crown successfully revoked his bail.

Multiple adjournments led to the case being delayed. Not-guilty pleas were eventually entered, with preliminary hearings occurring and a judge ordering that the cases proceed to trial.