Man gets 6-year sentence in drug-related shooting death

Urging him to use his time in incarceration to turn his life around, a Calgary judge on Friday sentenced admitted killer Dyson White to six years in prison.

With credit for time in remand, White will have to achieve that turnaround in the next two years, three months and a week — the time he has left to serve on his sixyear term for manslaughter in the shooting death of Calgarian Jonathan Schmeikal.

White, 39, pleaded guilty last November for his role in the Sept. 30, 2015, death of Schmeikal over an unpaid debt.

Justice Rosemary Nation noted that despite a long criminal history, which includes a six-year sentence in 1998 for attempted murder, White had managed to stay almost crime-free for the five years leading up to Schmeikal’s death.

Defence lawyer Jim Lutz said that was the result of the steadying influence of White’s wife, who was able to help him stay off drugs during that period.

“You’re obviously capable of having periods free of crime and free of drugs,” the Court of Queen’s Bench judge said.

But she warned White he would have to remain vigilant for the rest of his life.

“It never goes away. It’s not a matter of just getting clean, it’s a matter of staying there,” Nation said, in accepting a joint sentencing recommendation from Lutz and Crown prosecutor William Tran.

Tran said the joint submission took into account the prosecution would have had difficulty proving its case, since the only witness to the shooting other than the participants, Ralph Stephens, has since died.

Stephens, White and Jerry Cody Goodeagle were driving around Calgary smoking crystal meth when Schmeikal called asking to buy drugs.

White, who was driving and was armed with a .22-calibre sawed-off rifle, which he gave to Goodeagle, received a phone call from Schmeikal seeking to purchase $100 worth of the drug.

Before picking up Schmeikal, White told Goodeagle he was upset with Schmeikal because he owed him money.

After picking up Schmeikal, the group drove around for about an hour smoking more crystal meth.

At that time, White started to argue with Schmeikal about an unpaid debt.

The confrontation escalated, at which point Goodeagle pointed the gun at Schmeikal and demanded Schmeikal give White money.

The accused fired one shot from the gun, hitting Schmeikal on the right flank of his body.

The victim managed to open the door of the pickup truck and fall out — his body was found about five hours later in the 2600 block of 43rd Street S.E.

Lutz said White never intended for Schmeikal to die and believed he’d receive medical treatment.

Goodeagle pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in November. He was sentenced to life in prison in February with no eligibility for parole for 13 years.