Breaking Bad, Yellowknife style
Man sold drugs in part to cover health costs, lawyer tells judge
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 39-year-old man has been sentenced to a year in jail for selling powder and crack cocaine to help cover the cost of medication, a territorial court judge heard Thursday.
Robert Jenson Hope, also known as Bob, was arrested after selling cocaine to undercover RCMP officers in December and January. Hope pleaded guilty to a single trafficking charge.
During his sentencing, defence lawyer Peter Harte told Judge Robert Gorin that his client had been battling cancer and couldn't work because of it.
So, Harte said, Hope turned to drug dealing to make money.
Hospital records starting in 2013 show several surgeries and that he was on medication to dissolve the carcinomas, the lawyer said. Hope was taking Tylenol 3 painkillers, too.
He was paying about $500 for a six-week supply of his medication. As a new resident to the territory he didn't have health coverage, Harte said.
According to the Department of Health and Social Services website, a person who moves to the territory from a province will be covered by their previous jurisdiction for the first three months.
The new resident must register and be accepted for territorial coverage after the third month.
It was unclear at press time whether the former Newfoundland and Labrador resident's home province had refused to pay for the medication.
Crown prosecutor Wendy Miller acknowledged the unique circumstances of the case and told the judge that Hope admitting to the crime saved the court time.
Nonetheless, she said, "a message needs to be sent that no matter how tough your life is, no matter how tough things are," that dealing drugs is not an option.
According to an agreed statement of facts read by Miller, RCMP learned in December of a phone number that could be used to contact a man named Bob who was selling cocaine.
An undercover officer called the number and met Hope outside the downtown Shoppers Drug Mart on Dec. 12 where she purchased about two grams of cocaine.
Later, an RCMP source provided a new number for someone selling crack cocaine.
An officer called and arranged to meet outside the Independent Grocer on Old Airport Road on Jan. 12.
The officer bought 1.4 grams of powder cocaine for $160 from Hope.
The third purchase was two pieces of crack cocaine (1.6 grams) for $160 from Hope on Jan. 14. He was arrested Feb. 4.
Miller sought a 12-month jail sentence, an amount reached through negotiation with the defence.
After hearing from Hope and Harte, Judge Robert Gorin said he believed the proposed sentence wasn't unreasonable but that Hope should be grateful it was a sentence the two sides had agreed on beforehand.
"I was contemplating a penitentiary sentence," Gorin said, which would have meant at least a two-year sentence.
The judge said it's clear to him as he presides over cases in the city that cocaine is having a "devastating effect on a segment of the population that is having a knock-on effect that everyone feels."
In addition to the 12-month jail sentence, he was ordered to provide a DNA sample for a national database and prohibited from owning firearms for 10 years.
He must also pay a $200 victims of crime surcharge.
Hope walked into the public gallery to kiss a woman before being led away to begin serving his sentence.
