Airport dope delivery grounded
Inmate on weekend pass was being escorted by corrections officers when marijuana package arrived; now back in jail on drug charges hours after his release
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Friday, June 12, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A man who was a prisoner at North Slave Correctional Centre at the time was sentenced to time served Wednesday after he had a local delivery driver bring him a package of marijuana as he was about to board a plane on a weekend pass.
Patsy Jules Novoligak, 24, is back in jail today after being arrested a few hours after his release. He is now charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possessing Fentanyl. Police say he was one of four people arrested Wednesday evening at around 8:30 p.m. outside a Range Lake Road business after noticing what appeared to be suspicious activity.
Earlier in the day, Crown prosecutor Jacqueline Porter told territorial court Novoligak was being escorted to the Yellowknife Airport by two corrections officers last March when a delivery driver approached with a package. Novoligak was planning on visiting Kugluktuk where his father lives.
The package contained 99 grams of marijuana, Porter said. The pot was subsequently seized by the corrections officers and Novoligak was not allowed to board the flight. He was brought back to jail where he spent a week in segregation, and was only allowed out of his cell for an hour a day. Corrections officials then tacked on three more weeks to a 10-month sentence Novoligak received last September for joyriding in a Northwestel truck while impaired.
Novoligak was not initially charged for the marijuana but he was re-arrested and charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking when he was released from jail on March 27.
Novoligak, who has 47 prior convictions, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of simple possession, plus breaching his bail conditions in April by not reporting to his bail supervisor. He represented himself in court.
Judge Christine Gagnon sentenced Novoligak to 15 days on the marijuana charge and 30 days for the breach. She noted he had already served 37 days in pre-trial custody. The judge gave him credit for a day and a half for each day in pre-trial custody, which is standard and set him free.
During his sentencing on the joyriding charge last fall, the court heard Novoligak had a rough upbringing in a home plagued by violence and alcohol abuse. Tu Pham, who was his lawyer at the time, said Novoligak was smoking pot by age 10 and drinking by age 11.
