A 23–year-old low-level pot dealer ran into some incredibly bad luck that led to his arrest and a 16-month conditional sentence last week.
Tristen Andrews just happened to have a cell phone number that was one digit off that of Cst. Curtis Nieman of the Yorkton municipal RCMP detachment.
The officer had received text messages from at least two people attempting to buy cannabis, federal Crown prosecutor Shane Wagner told a judge in Yorkton Provincial Court March 21. Nieman texted them back, arranged meetings and arrested them. They led Nieman to Andrews, but the accused ended up helping police out by going to them first.
According to Wagner, Andrews apparently caught wind of what was going on and called Nieman with a story about people trying to get him in trouble. The officer invited him to come down to the detachment to straighten things out. Andrews turned himself in at the detachment, was arrested and confessed to selling grams of pot for income because he was laid off from work due to injury and to support his own habit, Wagner said.
Andrews pleaded guilty Monday to one count of trafficking marijuana. In a joint submission, the Crown and defence recommended 16 months probation based on Andrews’ lack of criminal record with the statutory conditions plus living at an approved residence, a 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew for the first eight months, abstaining from alcohol and non-prescription drugs, participating in assessment and treatment for addictions, and submitting to searches of his person and residence.
Richard Yaholnitsky for the defence cited additional mitigating circumstances such as the accused’s age, work history, and an alleged diagnosis of PTSD for which Yaholnitsky said his client had been prescribed medical marijuana. He said Andrews recognized that does not give him leave to sell it and that he regrets his actions.
Judge Ross Green was satisfied the joint submission was a fit sentence and imposed it.
In addition, there is a 10-year mandatory firearms prohibition.
Andrews also pleaded guilty to two traffic offences, for which he received fines totaling $380 and two breaches of a recognizance. The breaches are related to a conditional release on break and enter charge out of Kamsack for which he has a court date on April 7.
