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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 48-year-old man from British Columbia who was arrested when found with nearly $100,000 worth of cocaine and marijuana, and who pleaded guilty to the crime, will not serve any more jail time.

NWT Supreme Court Justice Louise Charbonneau handed down a three-year sentence to Robert Livingstone on Friday for two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. He has been in jail since his arrest almost two years ago and the judge credited him with 1.5 days for each day served.

Defence lawyer Peter Fuglsang said Livingstone has had a very isolated experience in jail, having no contact with the general population and having to walk down a cleared corridor with security - for Livingstone's own safety.

On June 27, 2010, Livingstone was arrested with 268 grams of cocaine and more than 2.9 kilograms of marijuana two years ago outside of Yellowknife, after the police received a tip from an anonymous caller. Yellowknife RCMP officers from the organized crime division intercepted Livingstone on Highway 3 at close to 2 a.m., around 40 km outside of Yellowknife. The Mounties found sealed packages of marijuana in a tire in the flatbed of the black Ford F-150 that Livingstone was driving. As well, the police uncovered clear plastic bags, hidden in the rear seat, containing the cocaine.

Prior to Livingstone's arrest, one of his relatives had moved to Yellowknife and told him there was work for him here, said Crown prosecutor Angie Paquin. Livingstone visited the city and then returned to B.C. to get his vehicle. He was short on funds, however, and couldn't get back to Yellowknife for work. The opportunity arose that he could drive the F-150 to Yellowknife at no cost to him, but he would not get any other financial gain from the trafficking job. He was aware, however, that he would be shipping the narcotics.

"Cocaine is a hard drug ... The impact of that drug to the community is serious," Paquin said during the reading of the facts on June 25.

The sentence is longer than what the Crown had originally asked for - two-and-a-half years jail time - a length of time that was "too lenient," according to Charbonneau. "It's certainly not at the high end. People need to know that."

Livingstone's co-operation with the RCMP investigation and behaviour while incarcerated were also factors in Charbonneau's sentence.

He was also ordered to pay a $100 surcharge by Oct. 31, 2012.

When given a chance to speak, Livingstone apologized to the community for his actions.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen," he said. "I was just trying to get back here."

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