SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A man who almost caused an accident downtown while driving with nearly four times the legal alcohol limit in his system will attend an Alberta addictions treatment centre as part of his sentence.

Yellowknife RCMP conduct a checkstop in August. Police stopped Peter Masuzumi, 25, in October and found he had almost four times the legal limit of alcohol in his system. - NNSL file photo

Territorial court judge Bernadette Schmaltz is allowing Peter Masuzumi, 25, to complete a six-week alcoholic treatment program at Poundmaker's Lodge in Edmonton before he serves his 90-day jail sentence for impaired driving.

It was Masuzumi's second impaired driving charge within 12 months. He was convicted of driving with over the legal limit of alcohol in his system on July 9. Three months later, on Oct. 12, Masuzumi was picked up by RCMP on Franklin Avenue around 2 a.m.

Police say he was driving erratically and nearly hit a vehicle he was passing near Mildred Hall School. Once stopped, RCMP noticed a 40-ounce bottle of vodka and beer in his vehicle. They gave Masuzumi a breathalyzer test, showing 300 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams.

Crown attorney Alex Godfry asked the courts to impose a 90-day jail sentence.

Alanhea Kemeys Vogt, Masuzumi's defence attorney, told the court her client was accepted into the Poundmaker program starting Feb.12 and asked his sentence be intermittent to allow him to attend.

She said her client abused alcohol to deal with emotional trauma. Masuzumi lost both parents, his father to a tragic plane accident in 2006.

On Thursday, Schmaltz accepted the proposal, but not before giving a stern warning to Masuzumi.

"You're going to kill somebody," Schmaltz said.

"The luckiest thing that happened to you that night is you were stopped."

At the time of his arrest, Masuzumi was under a one-year driving prohibition from his last impaired conviction. He pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and driving with over the legal limit of alcohol in his blood on Dec. 10.

Schmaltz said the Crown's suggestion of 90 days in jail was the lowest sentence she could impose.

Masuzumi apologized to the courts, saying "no words can express" his regret.