IQALUIT - Iqaluit businessman Stuart Kennedy paid a $5,000 fine for illegal possession of alcohol after pleading guilty to the charge on Dec. 16.

After a surveillance operation of Kennedy's warehouse, RCMP raided it in October 2008 and found 466 flats of beer of various brands. A flat contains 24 cans of beer.

Kennedy was able to produce import permits for 432 flats in his name and two other individuals, including Allan Mullin, who pleaded guilty to possession earlier this year.

Kennedy's lawyer Jean-Pierre Rancourt said since his client owned a warehouse as part of his business, he often stored beer for others when it was newly arrived on sealift.

"Yes, we are careless over years," said Rancourt on Kennedy's behalf.

"But it's been done for years. We don't check for permits."

Holding beer for other people is illegal under the Nunavut Liquor Act.

Rancourt said Kennedy's guilty plea represented an admission that Kennedy should have asked to see import documentation before letting anyone store their beer in his warehouse.

"The excessive consumption of liquor ... causes a lot of social harm, a lot of social violence," said judge Louise Charbonneau.

The maximum fine for the offence is $5,000.

Charbonneau said police tend to notice if someone is bringing in a lot of beer at once, so the safest course is to have proper documentation for it.

The Crown withdrew more serious trafficking charges.

All the beer in the warehouse was destroyed.