SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Kim and Craig MacNearney gave emotional statements Friday as they faced sentencing for growing and possessing marijuana.

Kim and Craig MacNearney leave the Yellowknife courthouse Friday, after being told they'll have to wait until Jan. 16 to receive their sentence. - Daniel Campbell/NNSL photo

"I just want to get on with my life," Kim said to Justice Virginia Schuler, after apologizing for her actions.

"I place myself at the mercy of the court," she concluded, her voice quivering.

Kim and Craig were arrested in February 2009 after RCMP found 20 marijuana plants and 729 grams of cultivated marijuana in their home.

More than a dozen people showed up in support of the couple, as counsel argued which sentence they should serve.

Crown prosecutor Ryan Carrier asked the courts to impose a jail sentence of four to six months for Kim and six to eight months for Craig.

Defence lawyer Alison Crowe asked Schuler to give the MacNearneys a discharge with conditions - meaning the couple would have no criminal record, but would be on order to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

Five witnesses were called to testify on the MacNearneys' behalf.

Roberta Pyke, a kindergarten teacher who taught both the MacNearnys' sons, remembers Craig or Kim would often stay at the school so the children would not get too upset.

"I think they're wonderful people," Pyke said. "They're both very good parents."

Leslie Goit, whose daughter babysits for the MacNearney children, said the family is well-liked in the community.

On cross-examination, Carrier asked Goit if she would allow her daughter to babysit for the MacNearneys when they had their illegal grow operation in the home.

"Yes I would," Goit said with determination.

Tammy Mackenzie, a Nova Scotia lawyer and friend of Kim's for 25 years, testified on the phone from Truro, N.S.

"I never viewed Kim as a criminal - and I still don't," Mackenzie asserted. She called Kim a "positive, productive" member of society and said her growing marijuana should "not be taken as a disregard for the law."

But Carrier said the MacNearneys demonstrated a lack of respect for Canadian law.

"It's not for individual members of our society to choose which laws do or do not apply to them," he said.

Carrier warned Schuler not to follow decisions made in B.C. courts, where similar offences are often discharged without criminal records.

"They were putting themselves, their children and their neighbours at risk," said Carrier.

He added a jail sentence would "assist in promoting a sense of responsibility in these offenders."

Crowe pleaded for a discharge, noting a criminal record would prevent the MacNearneys from participating in school activities. She said the couple has already been through enough, after being arrested, released and put on conditions for the last four years.

"The MacNearneys have heard the message of the courts loud and clear on this subject," said Crowe.

Schuler said she'd need more time to make her decision and adjourned the matter to Jan. 16.

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