SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Fort Smith man who sold drugs to two undercover RCMP officers twice in the same day was sentenced to four months in jail on April 13 in territorial court.

"Jail is necessary," said Judge Christine Gagnon, who originally sentenced Josh Desjarlais, 19, to five months in jail but gave him credit for one month of time already served since his March 23 arrest. Desjarlais, who wore a black T-shirt with a demonic face on the front, spoke briefly and apologized to the court for his actions.

On Feb. 5, 2011, the two undercover officers were outside a bar in Fort Smith around 2:30 a.m. looking to buy drugs. They were told to go to a nearby residence where they met Desjarlais, who sold them two grams of marijuana for $40, said Crown prosecutor Angie Paquin at Desjarlais' sentencing.

After the drug deal, Desjarlais gave the two officers his cell phone number and told them if they needed more to give him a call. At 7:30 p.m. on the same day, one of the officers called Desjarlais and asked if he could get "hooked up" again for two more grams of marijuana.

The officers picked up Desjarlais in an undercover patrol car about a half-an-hour later on Pine Street, where Desjarlais sold the officers two grams of marijuana again for $40. This time the officers also asked for something more, saying they were going to be partying with some girls later that night. After a couple of stops at other residences in town, Desjarlais was able to acquire five pills of ecstasy, He sold the pills to the officers for $100, said Paquin,

Desjarlais was arrested and charged about six weeks later for drug trafficking.

Paquin said Desjarlais was a "middle man" in the commercial drug trade in Fort Smith, and she was especially critical that Desjarlais was dealing ecstasy, a drug that targets youth and has a "disastrous effect on the community."

She recommended a six-to-eight-month jail sentence for Desjarlais in addition to one year of probation, a 10-year firearms ban and a DNA order.

Desjarlais' lawyer Serge Petitpas told the court his client sold drugs to support his own marijuana habit and "occasional ecstasy habit." He called his client a low-level drug dealer for the small amounts of drugs he was caught selling. He requested a four-to-five month jail term for his client, and asked that 24 days already served in custody be deducted from any sentence the court imposes.

Besides the jail term, Gagnon also sentenced Desjarlais to one year of probation and 60 hours of community service.

Gagnon also granted the Crown's recommendation and banned Desjarlais from owning firearms for 10 years and ordered him to provide a sample of his DNA to authorities.

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