A late 2017 investigation by the Estevan Police Service (EPS) into suspected cocaine trafficking resulted into two convictions in Estevan Provincial Court on Monday.
Christopher Lee Gibson and Michael Cameron were both sentenced separately with drug-related charges.
On Nov. 23, 2017, the EPS began their investigation into Gibson, and had conducted four observations of him. On Dec. 15, police officers conducted surveillance from an unmarked vehicle.
Gibson was seen travelling from a hotel in the northeast corner of the city to a convenience store in the city centre. There, Gibson got into a Dodge pickup truck with Michael Cameron. The police arrested the two, and Gibson was found with 13 small baggies of cocaine, each containing 0.6 grams of the drug.
On his phone, which was not locked, they found a text conversation which led up to the exchange.
Later, on March 17, 2019, while Gibson was on release conditions, the Estevan RCMP conducted a curfew check on Gibson’s residence in Lampman. There they found several cellphones, a breach of his conditions. They also found baggies, a scale, and five grams of methamphetamines, which netted Gibson a possession charge.
All told, he faced a charge for possession of methamphetamines, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, and various breach charges.
Gibson pleaded guilty in a joint submission. Judge Michelle Brass accepted that submission, which included a global two-year penitentiary sentence going forward, 30 days time served for the meth possession, and 15 days concurrent for the breaches.
He must provide a DNA sample, forfeit all the items seized, and has a 10-year weapons prohibition.
Crown prosecutor Mitch Crumley noted that a typical range would be 18 months to four years.
His defence attorney, Kim Stinson, said Gibson was 41 years old and had been dealing with addictions since the age of 13. While on release conditions he concentrated his time with his three daughters. Upon release, he intends on moving away from Estevan, noting he had bad influences here.
Stinson said Gibson had worked successfully in the oilpatch over quite some time.
Brass noted that there was a big gap in his criminal record, and that the sentence submission was appropriate. Gibson was taken into custody.
The other person in that truck was Cameron. He also appeared in court on Monday, pleading guilty in a joint submission to several charges, not all of which were related to the incident at the convenience store. Cameron pleaded guilty to trafficking marijuana, simple possession, breach of undertaking and failure to appear.
For this, the joint submission called for an eight month conditional sentence order, 40 hours of community service, and turning over a new 50-foot extension cord, wrench set and “window coverings.”
Cameron will be under 24-hour house arrest at his Moose Jaw residence for the first four months, and under a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. Exemptions were granted for work, community service and getting groceries. He must also stay within 100 kilometres of Moose Jaw.
Cameron must also abstain from drugs, alcohol and cannabis, and must provide blood, breath and urine samples as required. He must take addition programing.
Lindsey Beaudry, Cameron’s lawyer, said he was 35 years old turning 36, with no kids, but a long-term girlfriend. He works as an overhead door technician and regularly attends 12-step program meetings.
Cameron has been on electronic monitoring for over a year, with no breaches, she noted. His failures to attend court were due to health concerns, she added.
Brass accepted the joint submission, and sentenced Cameron to an eight-month conditional sentence order with probation as indicated above, a forfeiture order, and 80 hours community service.
