Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 06/02) - A convicted marijuana trafficker has been handed down the stiffest sentence yet after the RCMP's Project Getaway drug sweep in May.

Doug Knutson, 44, was sentenced to a total of 21 months in jail Oct. 2 for selling half a pound and one-quarter of a pound of marijuana to an undercover civilian agent working for the RCMP's drug section and an undercover officer. The illicit sales occurred on March 8 and 16 respectively.

Knutson waived his preliminary hearing and pleaded guilty to both charges.

Knutson had a past history for trafficking. In February 2000 he was sentenced to 18 months by Judge Brian Bruser for one count of trafficking marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

That sentence was later reduced after the territorial Court of Appeal ruled Bruser was too harsh and released him after seven months imprisonment.

This latest sentence handed to Knutson, also passed in territorial court by Judge Brian Bruser, was even more severe than one handed to a cocaine trafficker in Supreme Court June 13.

Justice Virginia Schuler sentenced Rickey Storey, 28, to 18 months in prison for selling two grams of cocaine to the undercover agent and police officer on two separate occasions.

A third charge for trafficking one gram of cocaine was dropped by the Crown.

Storey had five previous drug-related convictions for possession of narcotics and trafficking of marijuana, compared to Knutson's two precious convictions.

Crown prosecutor Scott Niblock said he had requested between two and two-and-a-half years imprisonment for Knutson.

"There's a problem with drug trafficking up here. If you're a trafficker and you're convicted, it's serious time," he said.

Niblock speculated that Storey received a lesser sentence because he pleaded guilty just one month after his arrest.

"He may have got a bit of a break, Mr. Storey," he said.