Court Briefs
Cash carrier sentenced to 18 months
Mark Rendell
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, July 23, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A man caught with $37,650 in cash bundled in stacks of $5,000 and neatly vacuum-packed in plastic bags was handed an 18-month conditional sentence on July 11 for possessing the proceeds of crime.
34-year-old Lawrence E. Wykes, originally from Ontario, and a driver were pulled over near the NWT-Alberta border in May 2011 during a routine RCMP road check.
The police smelled marijuana inside the car and arrested both men for possession upon searching the vehicle. Wykes had 9.8 grams of marijuana on him and a marijuana grinder.
The police then located the vacuum sealed bags of cash in Wykes' backpack and about $1,000 more in a hidden compartment in the
car.
The cash was neatly counted and packaged, according to the court documents, and there were markings in blue pen on the bags. Wykes maintains his innocence.
"I earned all of that money," he said, according to court documents. "It was my savings for the whole year, and to watch them just come and take it all was
difficult."
Wykes will be spending the first six months of his sentence under house arrest and will only be allowed to leave his house in Behchoko to go to work.
The plan is to give him more freedom of movement for the remaining 12 months, but still require he obey a curfew and get permission to travel out of the territory.
Trial date set for man accused in May Northland bust
A date for a preliminary inquiry has been set for Michael David Webb, a Vancouver man facing numerous charges related to a drug bust in Northland Trailer Park in May.
Webb, 35, who appeared in territorial court July 15 via video from the North Slave Correctional Centre, opted for trial by judge and jury and requested a preliminary inquiry, which is set take place at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 13.
Webb faces 10 charges, including assault causing bodily harm, robbery, possessing a weapon, break and enter and possession for the purposes of trafficking.
He was arrested, along with two other men, Larry David Mernickle, 28, and Alexandre Loren Coey-DeMata, 27, after RCMP were called to Northland regarding an assault and ended up searching a residence and seizing 12 pounds of marijuana and $10,000 in cash.
Due to the number of charges, Crown prosecutor Blair MacPherson said the preliminary inquiry could take a full day.
Teen accused of Ndilo murder in court
A teen charged with stabbing 21-year-old Daniel Faine to death at a party in Ndilo last September was in court on Wednesday and Thursday last week for a preliminary inquiry.
The teen , accused of second-degree murder, cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act because she was 17 at the time of the offense.
A date for trial by judge and jury has yet to be set, though Crown prosecutor Allison Duckett said it likely will not take place for a number of months.
The accused is not in custody, having been released in September on a $5,000 bail payed by her father. The bail comes with a set of 20 conditions, such as forbidding her from leaving her house except to attend school and forbidding alcohol consumption.
