Man sentenced to 12 months for trafficking

Clement Black Rabbit wasn’t reading a book or even watching a DVD when police were called to the Lethbridge Public Library in March 2017. The 35-year-old man was selling drugs. “Mr. Black Rabbit was in the library and trafficking in methamphetamine,” Crown Prosecutor Jeremy DeBow said Wednesday in Lethbridge provincial court.

Not even three months later he was at a downtown business and caught with drugs again, but that time it was heroin.

DeBow told court Black Rabbit was caught with 1.8 grams of meth at the library, and he had less than one gram of heroin when he was caught downtown, but there were plenty of indications he was trafficking.

Black Rabbit, who appeared in court by closed-circuit TV from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug possession for the purpose of trafficking, and one count of breaching court orders not to possess any drugs, for which he was sentenced to one year in jail.

Lethbridge lawyer Greg White said his client — a father of five children — grew up on the Blood Reserve, where he was affected by alcohol abuse in the family. Both of his parents attended residential schools, and his mother died when he was only 13 years old.

And even though he worked at a steady job for many years, his life spiralled after he got involved with drugs, particularly fentanyl.

Although sentenced to 12 months in jail, Black Rabbit was credited for 320 days already spent in custody, leaving him with only 45 days to serve. He may not be released, however, because he is also in custody on charges relating to a drugs and weapons bust at a known “drug house” earlier this year. He returns to court on those charges next week to discuss setting a date for a preliminary hearing.

“I’m ready to change,” Black Rabbit told the judge moments before he was sentenced.

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