Yellowknife (Sep 01/06) - A Yellowknife lawyer whose out-of-town client was caught with $900 worth of pot described the capital "a sort of Wal-mart for marijuana", Tuesday.

Jim Brydon said people from the communities come to Yellowknife and buy the drug in bulk. The comments came after his client admitted to possessing 133.4 grams of marijuana in territorial court.

The 20-year-old man was fined $1,150. Judge Bernadette Schmaltz said she considered the fact the man didn't have a criminal record and took responsibility for his actions.

"I give (the man) credit for an early guilty plea," she said.

The man, originally from Deline, was driving from Yellowknife to Dettah to visit family when his car was pulled over in a routine traffic stop. Crown counsel Shannon Smallwood said RCMP officers smelled "fresh marijuana" coming from the vehicle, which held three people.

Smallwood said the RCMP searched the trunk and found a blue duffel bag containing two plastic bags of marijuana.

"He paid approximately $900 (for the marijuana)," said Smallwood.

"The $900 and the fine I'm going to impose on you could have been far better spent," said Schmaltz.

The man will have until Sept. 30 to pay the fine.

Man misses court because of drinking

A 36-year-old man was ordered to pay $690 for missing a court appearance earlier this year because of a drinking binge.

The man was convicted of failing to comply with the conditions of his release during an appearance in territorial court Tuesday. Schmaltz called the man's record, which includes 25 convictions, "terrible."

The man's lawyer, Jim Brydon, said his client was an alcoholic and described his actions as "careless."

"The day before he and a friend split a 26 (ounce bottle of alcohol) and the rest is, as they say, history," said Brydon.

The man slept through his alarm, Brydon said. The man will have until Nov. 30 to pay the fine.

Break and enter suspect pleads guilty

A man facing more than 50 counts of break and enter in Yellowknife pleaded guilty to four Alberta-based charges on Tuesday.

Eric George Wardell admitted to one count of forgery from March 5; one count of failing to comply with a probation order between July 6 and Aug. 28, 1998; one count of theft under $5,000 from 1996; and one count of failing to give fingerprints from 1997.

Each of the crimes were committed in Alberta.

Wardell will be sentenced Oct. 10 at 1:30 p.m. in territorial court. His is scheduled to stand trial in territorial Supreme Court next month in connection with the dozens of Yellowknife break-ins.

Wardell remains in custody.