Drug accused avoids trial with lesser charge

A man charged with drug possession for the purpose of trafficking pled down to a lesser charge Thursday, instead of going to trial later this month.

Ted MacDonald, 42, appeared by CCTV from the Medicine Hat Remand Centre, entering a guilty plea for incidents that occurred late last year, receiving a sentence of 75 days in jail, considered time served due to pretrial custody.

MacDonald was originally charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking after an Oct. 7, 2016 incident where he was outside a local convenience store, saw police, and went inside the store and took a bag out of his sock and placed it on the shelves. Police entered the store and arrested him, finding in his possession 27.9 grams of meth with an estimated street value of $2,800.

A guilty plea was instead entered to the lesser charge of drug possession, with defence counsel saying the drugs were for MacDonald’s own personal use. Defence counsel also noted that MacDonald struggles with addiction, and upon his release from jail will be going into treatment.

MacDonald also pled guilty to breaching release conditions after police observed him on the property of a known drug house, and when they spoke with him he admitted he had six grams of meth on him.

Fraud charges

A six-month sentence was given to a man faced with multiple counts of fraud under $5,000.

Richard Strong appeared by CCTV from the Medicine Hat Remand Centre to enter guilty pleas, with his sentence being considered as time served due to having been in custody for months.

Strong was charged with fraud after an incident on July 28, 2016 when a co-accused stole debit and credit cards and truck keys from a victim, and she and Strong proceeded to use the cards throughout the night and into the morning, racking up more than $2,100 in charges.

Strong’s sentence also included a guilty plea for shoplifting from Walmart, and two counts of failing to appear in court.

Trafficking trial

Two men facing drug trafficking-related charges stemming from the city’s first appearance of purple meth had brief court appearances Thursday, as their counsel prepares for a multi-day trial.

A pretrial conference has been set up for April 18 for Wayne Shrubsall and Joshua Munroe, with the pair’s next court date set for April 20, at which point a trial date will be set.

Shrubsall and Munroe were arrested in August following a drug trafficking investigation by police, which marked the first appearance of “purple meth” in Medicine Hat.

Delays have occurred in moving the cases forward, due to Shrubsall switching counsel at the start of this year.

Munroe is on release, while Shrubsall remains in custody.