PRINCE ALBERT – A trial was set Tuesday for a 29-year-old man charged with participating in the activities of a criminal organization.
The trial for Brennen Sanderson of Wahpeton First Nation, is scheduled for June 2022 in Prince Albert Provincial Court.
Sanderson was arrested following a lengthy investigation into organized crime by the Saskatchewan RCMP Crime Reduction Team (CRT).
The investigation, which started in October 2019, targeted people police believed were involved in organized crime activity in various communities around Prince Albert. Officers from Prince Albert RCMP, Prince Albert Police Service and Saskatoon Police Service assisted the CRT team in the investigation.
Police executed a search warrant on Sturgeon lake First Nation on Feb. 12, 2020, and seized a sawed-off shotgun, ammunition, a replica handgun, a spear gun, and a quantity of suspected hydromorphone.
They arrested Sanderson, along with Shania Yooya, then 24, and Shannon Sanderson, then 29. All three were charged with unauthorized possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, unsafe storage of a firearm, possession of a firearm with a tampered serial number, and possession of a weapon obtained by crime.
Shannon Sanderson was released from custody and failed to appear in court in March 2020. A warrant is still out for her arrest.
Police also charged Jesse Dillon of Christopher Lake with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of a firearm/prohibited weapon when knowing possession was unauthorized, possession of a restricted firearm/prohibited weapon with ammunition without licence/registration, possession of weapon obtained by crime, and unsafe storage of firearm.
More charges and arrests
As a result of a separate investigation by the Saskatchewan RCMP Crime Reduction Team, more charges were laid.
Brennen Sanderson was charged with participating in the activities of a criminal organization.
Dillon was charged with recruiting members for a criminal organization, committing an offence for a criminal organization, trafficking methamphetamine, conspiring to commit an indictable offence, and uttering threats against a person. All of Dillon’s charges have gone to Prince Albert Court of Queen’s Bench and he has case management on Jan. 14.
Raini Henderson of Montreal Lake Cree Nation was charged with participating in activities of a criminal organization.
Shania Yooya of Meadow Lake was charged with committing an offence for a criminal organization, uttering threats against a person, conspiring to commit an indictable offence, and trafficking methamphetamine.
Some of Yooya’s charges are still at the provincial court level and some are at Queen’s Bench. On Jan. 14 she has case management on some charges at Court of Queen’s Bench; and on Feb. 1 in Prince Albert Provincial Court she is expected to elect how she wants to be tried on other charges.
