Garage owner gets house arrest for pot charge
Judge finds man guilty of possessing a little less than one pound of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking
Sarah Ladik
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 19, 2016
INUVIK
An Inuvik business owner avoided jail time last week after an NWT Supreme Court judge sentenced the man to house arrest after being found with a little less than one kilogram of marijuana.
Police found close to nine kilograms of marijuana at Midnight Mechanical in 2013 but the judge ruled that only about one kilogram of the drug could be tied directly to the owner. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo
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Inuvik business owner Timothy Hunter, 50, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking in April 2013, along with some firearms offences. Police originally found nine kilograms of the drug stashed in the garage he owns and operates but Crown prosecutor Marc Lecorre ultimately could only prove Hunter was responsible for the one of the kilograms of marijuana found in a disused Pepsi vending machine.
The other eight kilograms were found in the far bay of the garage to which many people had access.
Judge Andrew Maher found Hunter guilty after a four-day trial that ended with his verdict May 12.
"Marijuana falls at the low end of the spectrum," said Maher while handing down the sentence of six months of house arrest.
He added, however, that the drug and the trafficking of it preys on the most vulnerable members of the community.
"Anyone who doesn't think marijuana can be addictive hasn't spent any time in a criminal court," Maher told the court.
While it was alluded to in court, Lecorre told media afterwards that Hunter had not been the primary target of the investigation that led to his arrest.
Hunter will be allowed to be out of his home 12 hours a day so he can go to work.
Hunter's lawyer Kenneth Tessovitch argued that Hunter is proficient in repairing motor vehicles which continued even after he lost some fingers in an industrial accident.
After years of working hard, paying his taxes, and contributing to the community, his client had "run afoul of the law" and had recognized his error, the lawyer said.
He also emphasized that Hunter did not have any meaningful criminal record.
