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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Yellowknife man was sentenced to an additional four months in jail for trafficking and breaking and entering.

Jason Bertram, who pleaded guilty, was the third man to be sentenced for an incident that occurred on Jan. 3, 2008.

Bertram, along with two other men, had gone to a residence in Yellowknife to deliver what was presented as crack cocaine.

A person paid with a $50 bill the men realized was fake after driving away.

The three drove back to the home and Bertram and another man, Christopher Rayworth, then broke down the door to the residence.

"To the homeowners this would have been a disturbing incident," said Crown prosecutor Sandy Aitken.

The men entered briefly and confronted three individuals at the home including an elderly woman.

Bertram and the other two men were located shortly after midnight by RCMP and arrested "in a high-risk take-down," according to Aitken.

"This was a fairly low-level street deal gone wrong," said Bertram's attorney, Caroline Wawzonek.

She said her client hoped his move to Yellowknife would help him escape his addiction to crack cocaine.

Bertram has been in custody since his arrest on Jan. 4. He was also sentenced for a number of charges from crimes in Alberta, including taking a motor vehicle and a bank card without consent in January 2003.

Aitken said Bertram took $1,023.57 to buy crack cocaine. He was also charged with causing a disturbance and failure to appear in court on March 2, 2004.

Bertram has a lengthy criminal record with 25 past convictions. Before sentencing, he addressed the court and said he fell in with the wrong people.

"I was introduced to crack and it just tore my life apart," he said. "With a little bit of God's help I can get this drug out of my life."

Judge Robert Gorin gave Bertram roughly two-for-one credit for the close to seven months already served, sentencing him four more months in prison.

"You have to realize crack cocaine really is a scourge on society," said Gorin.

Bertram will also have to submit to a DNA order and obey a 10-year firearms prohibition.

Bertram's co-accused, Rayworth and Stephen Pond, who pleaded guilty as well, were both sentenced earlier this year.

Rayworth was sentenced in Supreme Court on June 2 and given eight months for trafficking and breaking and entering.

Pond was sentenced in Territorial Court on May 13 to six months in jail for his role as the driver for Rayworth and Bertram.