Yellowknife (Mar 19/04) - The Crown attorney's office has dropped a series of meat-wasting charges against two men from Rae after they successfully completed their community service.

Eddie Quitte and Leon Rabesca were originally charged with 16 violations each of the NWT Wildlife Act after inspectors discovered the carcasses of several caribou near Indian Hill Lake in the fall of 2002.

The case was diverted to a community justice circle in Rae after the two admitted their guilt. Justice officials in Rae refused to disclose the punishment. On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Brian Asmundson officially withdrew the charges.

Under territorial legislation, Quitte and Rabesca faced a maximum of 16 years in jail and a $16,000 fine for the offences.

Two other men charged in the case, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development officials Lorne Tricoteux and Alexander Glowach, will be in court this summer to face similar charges.

At a hearing last month, Crown attorney Erin Eacott said prosecutors were still waiting for ballistics results from an RCMP forensic laboratory in Edmonton.

The trial is scheduled for early June.