Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 17/03) - A 25-year-old Inuvik man who sold cocaine just once to pay for truck insurance was sentenced last week to two years in jail.

Justin Simms wept quietly throughout his trial in NWT Supreme Court in Yellowknife.

"I guarantee this is the last time I'll appear in court," he told Justice Virginia Schuler. "I got too greedy. I should have just worked to make the extra money. I wouldn't be here today. I am truly sorry."

Defence lawyer Robert Gorin described Simms as a naive but hard-working young man who moved to Inuvik from Newfoundland in 1999 to look for work. Since then, he made a good living working in the construction industry and moonlighting in a bar.

Simms lived with his common-law wife and helped her kick an alcohol problem.

He was saving his money to buy a new truck -- the first significant purchase of his life. He planned to pick the truck up in Edmonton, but realized he needed more money to cover insurance costs. That's when a friend suggested he could make some quick cash by selling cocaine.

Simms quickly became a target in an undercover police investigation dubbed Operation Getaway.

On April 14, 2001 police arrested him at his home. Simms told police where to find $4,200 worth of cocaine and $4,700 in cash hidden in the couch. Gorin said his client is extremely remorseful partly because he's going to jail, and partly because he's hurting his spouse.

Schuler accepted Simms' remorse. It's tragic, she said, that someone who was doing so well would make this mistake. And it's ironic that he tried so hard to help his wife and then turned around and sold cocaine.

"In a small town where people don't have a lot to do, (cocaine) can become the focus of your life," she said. "It can be devastating to families and children." Simms probably didn't think about that, said Schuler.

"If you did, I'm sure you wouldn't have gone ahead."