Yellowknife (Jun 02/06) - A man who dropped a packet of crack cocaine in front of police while searching his pockets for his driver's licence has been sentenced to almost 11 months behind bars.

Stephen Ronald Theriault pleaded guilty on Tuesday to possession of cocaine, and admitted to seven other crimes during an appearance in territorial court.

"We're not dealing with a master criminal," said Judge Michel Bourassa.

Police arrested Theriault more than a half-dozen times during a 12-month span, including once last winter when officers pulled over his beat-up, four-door Chevy on 52nd Street.

The car had no rear windshield and a broken tail-light, said Crown attorney John MacFarlane.

He gave police an expired insurance certificate and when he reached into his pocket for his driver's licence, a 0.2 gram tinfoil packet of cocaine fell out.

His defence lawyer later said Theriault's licence was missing because it had gone through the wash.

His ill-advised driving led to more charges last month.

Police pulled Theriault over May 12 after he "cut a corner" in downtown Yellowknife, said MacFarlane.

After stopping the car, an officer saw a crack pipe on the floor. When Theriault got out of the vehicle, a half-full bottle of vodka fell to the ground.

Theriault was arrested and taken to the RCMP detachment where, during a search, a one-gram packet of cocaine fell out of his sock.

Making matters worse, Theriault skipped four court appearances before his sentencing on Tuesday.

"The public is entitled to demand protection... from this extreme antisocial behaviour," said Bourassa.

He sentenced Theriault to four months behind bars for skipping the court dates, 110 days for the crack-cocaine possession and three months for breaching an earlier probation order.