SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Dettah man who admitted to driving while intoxicated on the Dettah ice road last winter has been given a $1,725 fine and banned from driving for a year and a half.

David Drygeese pleaded guilty in territorial court on June 15 to one charge of driving over the legal limit.

According to Crown prosecutor Mike Himmelman, on March 29 at around 11:40 p.m. ,RCMP were notified by an anonymous caller that there was a possible impaired driver on the ice road from Dettah headed towards Yellowknife.

RCMP located a truck on the ice road and conducted a traffic stop, said Himmelman.

"(An officer) detected a strong odour of alcohol coming from the vehicle," he said.

Drygeese was asked if he had been drinking. He replied he had not, but his passenger had. He was then taken into the police vehicle and questioned further. Drygeese then admitted to consuming "four cups earlier in the day," said Himmelman, adding he believed "four cups" meant alcohol.

After failing a breathalyzer test, Drygeese further admitted to also consuming half a bottle of vodka. He said his friend, the passenger in the vehicle, had asked him to drive to Yellowknife and Drygeese agreed to do it.

Defence lawyer Dan Rideout said "there were some charter concerns" that could have been an issue if the matter was taken to trial, but Drygeese wanted to deal with the case as soon as he could. He also called Drygeese's past criminal record "dated" with one related previous conviction in 1999.

Judge Christine Gagnon fined Drygeese $1,500 plus a surcharge of $225 and banned him from driving for 18 months, noting the minimum ban by law is one year and the maximum is three years.