SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A convicted criminal who ingested three bags of cocaine in an attempt to deceive police will wait a couple of months to find out his punishment.

After listening to nearly two hours of sentencing recommendations, Judge Garth Malakoe told territorial court on Wednesday he needed more time to come up with a fitting punishment. He then adjourned the case of Kevin Peter Gosselin until June.

Gosselin pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking.

During his submissions to the court, Crown prosecutor Marc Lecorre described Gosselin as a "parasite who sells drugs for profit" to support his addiction to cocaine, and someone who "preys on the weaker members of society for profit."

Lecorre told the court the RCMP drug squad received a tip from an informant that Gosselin, 26, was dealing drugs in Yellowknife in October 2010.

After getting Gosselin's cellphone number from the informant, the RCMP texted Gosselin and set up a deal for three grams of cocaine for $300 on Oct. 12 at the Nova Court parking lot on Range Lake Road.

The RCMP later arrested Gosselin in the parking lot in his blue and silver Dodge pick-up truck at 12:57 p.m. When asked if he had any drugs, Gosselin told the officers he swallowed two bags of cocaine. Gosselin was immediately transported to Stanton Territorial Hospital for observation. At 8 a.m. the next morning, he defecated one bag of cocaine into the hospital's portable toilet and then two more bags at 10:45 a.m. Besides the three bags of cocaine, the RCMP also seized 10 millilitres of the steroid Trenbolone, several medical needles, a Blackberry phone and a backpack.

Lecorre added Gosselin only resorted to selling drugs when he ran out of money to support his own habit, and that, by swallowing the drugs, he showed he was capable of deceptive behaviour and had some "savvy" for the drug trade.

Anticipating Gosselin's lawyer's recommendation of a conditional sentence, Lecorre said such a sentence would be inappropriate given Gosselin's criminal record, which includes a drunk driving conviction, a failure to attend court and a failure to comply with a court order.

Lecorre said the previous failures to follow court conditions were evidence that a conditional sentence wouldn't work.

Instead, the prosecutor requested a jail term in the range of 10-12 months, a DNA order, a 10-year firearms ban and 12 months of probation. He asked the court to treat Gosselin's offence no differently than that of any other drug dealer in the territory, and said a message needed to be sent that the North is "inhospitable" for drug traffickers.

Gosselin's lawyer, Rob Davidson of Edmonton, admitted his client was using cocaine at the time of the arrest, and said he only stopped using the drug two months afterwards.

Davidson said Gosselin is committed to changing his life and has attended 13 drug counselling sessions at the Tree of Peace since January 2011. Gosselin spared the court a trial by pleading guilty at an early opportunity on Jan. 18, Davidson said.

He argued that, based on legal precedent and a recommendation in Gosselin's pre-sentence report, his client is an ideal candidate for a conditional sentence.

Gosselin, who is not being held in custody, is scheduled to learn his fate on June 29 at 2 p.m.

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