Yellowknife man sentenced to 28 months for drug trafficking

An NWT Supreme Court judge has sentenced a man to 28 months’ imprisonment nearly five years after he was arrested during a cocaine trafficking investigation in Yellowknife.

Malcolm Glen Anderson, 54, was charged in April 2019 alongside David Payne after police searched his Sunridge Place apartment, where Payne was also living at the time. RCMP had been watching the building following tips from two informants.

According to an agreed statement of facts, police found 97 grams of cocaine in a safe in Payne’s room. A search of the apartment also revealed smaller amounts of other drugs, drug paraphernalia, cell phones and cash.

Payne, 70, pleaded guilty in 2022 to one count of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and was sentenced to two and a half years’ imprisonment. An additional charge of possessing property obtained by crime was stayed.

Anderson pleaded guilty to one count of possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking last month, admitting joint possession of the cocaine found in the safe. The Crown stayed an additional charge of possessing property obtained by crime.

Crown prosecutor Brendan Green argued on Thursday that Anderson should be sentenced to two and a half years’ imprisonment for the charge.

He noted Anderson was found in possession of a key to the safe in Payne’s room, as well as a cell phone used to communicate with customers and a supplier. He said an aggravating factor was the presence of a young child in the apartment at the time, who was taken to hospital for exposure to cocaine.

Defence lawyer John Hale argued that Anderson should receive time served, saying his client had spent nearly a year in jail and had “paid the price” for being a drug addict who helped with a drug trafficking operation. If the judge determined a longer sentence was required, he said, his client should be given house arrest.

Hale said while such a sentence would be at the lower end for this type of offence, Anderson’s circumstances were “quite out of the ordinary in comparison to what the court typically hears.”

Hale said Anderson’s uncle introduced him to crack cocaine when he was living in Vancouver. He said Anderson, who has congestive heart disease and has had several heart attacks, turned to drugs as he had “just given up.”

Hale said Anderson and his wife moved to Yellowknife to get away from drugs. While things initially went well, Anderson ultimately began using crack cocaine again. In search of drugs, Hale said Anderson had reconnected with Payne, whom he had known when they both worked at a mine in the NWT.

Hale said Anderson allowed Payne to temporarily move into his apartment and accepted crack cocaine as payment for rent. He said Payne sold drugs from the apartment and Anderson would sometimes help by opening the door to customers or connecting people with Payne. Hale argued Anderson was “strictly an addict” who never made any money from the commercial drug operation, while Payne was significantly more involved.

“It’s on me for letting a man in my house and helping him out,” Anderson told the judge, saying he accepted responsibility for his actions.

Hale highlighted progress Anderson had made since he had been arrested, including completing a substance abuse management program at the jail in Yellowknife and attending weekly therapy. He added that Anderson attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings for the first time when he spent time in an Alberta jail during the evacuation of Yellowknife, where he learned more about himself and why he uses drugs. Since returning to Yellowknife, Hale said, Anderson has been trying to start Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at the city’s North Slave Correctional Complex.

Once released, Hale said, Anderson plans to attend a residential treatment facility with his family in Saskatchewan. He sad his client is ready to begin using resources outside jail to address his addiction and reunite his family, which he believes will benefit both Anderson and the public.

“Further incarceration does not benefit the public in any way,” he said.

While Justice Louise Charbonneau said she accepted that Payne’s role in drug trafficking was more significant and Anderson was now on a positive path, she said he was still involved in a commercial trafficking operation. Drug trafficking is a serious problem in the NWT, she stressed, causing not only harm to people using drugs but also collateral damage to families and communities.

“With every sale, with every gram, that harm is passed on to other people,” she said, adding that anyone involved in trafficking contributes to the problem.

Noting the delay in Anderson’s case, the judge said Covid-19 was partially responsible but so was Anderson, who failed to keep in touch with his lawyer and missed several court appearances.

Charbonneau said a custodial sentence of under a year fell short of society’s condemnation of drug trafficking and the harm that it causes.

The judge sentenced Anderson to 28 months’ imprisonment. With 11 and a half months’ credit for time served in pre-trial custody, he has 16 and a half months of his sentence remaining.

“I sincerely hope that you will continue with your efforts,” Charbonneau told Anderson of the progress he has made.