SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 25-year-old man who told his lawyer he was selling drugs to cover a debt has said threats against his family caused him to increase cocaine sales and prompted his girlfriend to move to Edmonton to work as a prostitute.

Defence lawyer Peter Harte told territorial court Friday his client, Christopher Thomas Shave, had been "arm-locked" by a criminal organization selling cocaine in Yellowknife, after his roommate stole his Silverado pick-up truck - containing $50,000 in cocaine and cash - and left town, leaving him to foot the bill. Harte said Shave moved north from Fort McMurray, Alta., in search of work and moved in "with an individual who was selling drugs to get by."

Harte said the truck was eventually found outside the territory and returned to the city but the cash and drugs were not recovered. He said a gang from whom Shave had obtained the drugs threatened to harm his family if he didn't pay them back.

"He was told it was his debt to work off and they knew where his family was," said Harte, adding Shave's girlfriend felt threatened and moved to Edmonton to work as a waitress in the hope of paying the debt off sooner. Instead she ended up working as a prostitute and Shave felt cornered, said Harte.

"He was simply without a path forward," said Harte. "He didn't realize what he was going to end up with."

Shave was arrested during investigations conducted under Project Gloomier - an RCMP undercover drug operation which resulted in 23 drug-related arrests in September.

Crown prosecutor Brendan Green said Shave sold cocaine to undercover officers on three different occasions in July and August, selling a gram of cocaine for $80 during each transaction.

Shave accused an undercover officer he met at Coyote's Bar and Grill on Aug. 28 of being a police agent but sold a gram of cocaine to him anyway, joking with the officer to "be easy on me."

The two parted ways after the transaction but later on the same day another officer met Shave outside the After 8 Pub. After greeting one another, Shave asked the officer, "are you a sergeant or a staff sergeant?"

The officer responded, "It's cool."

Shave slid the top off a plastic box containing several baggies of white powder and gave the officer a gram of cocaine for $80. The officer could see Shave had a handful of $20 bills and there was more money on the console of his truck.

Police raided Shave's Con Road home on Sept. 1. Searching his bedroom, they found eight cell phones, an iPad, $415 in cash, a knife, brass knuckles and steroids. Elsewhere in the home small quantities of cocaine and marijuana were found. Shave was arrested and has been in custody since.

Green said Shave has a criminal record, including a prior conviction for cocaine possession, which resulted in $750 in fines. He said the Crown was seeking 18 to 20 months of jail time, a DNA order, a firearms prohibition and that items seized in the search be forfeited.

"All of this evidence points to the fact that Mr. Shave regularly sold cocaine," he said.

Harte told court Shave has only the clothes on his back because after police searched his home and arrested him, someone broke in and stole all of his things. He asked if the iPad and Shave's wallet could be returned. He said Shave has felt concerned for his safety while in the North Slave Correctional Centre and has been held in the segregation unit in 23-hour lockdown since Christmas.

Harte asked the judge to consider a sentence of between 12 and 14 months.

"He was, he felt, helpless to change his life," said Harte. "Which he mentioned to the undercover RCMP."

Asked by Chief Judge Christine Gagnon if he had anything to say for himself before sentencing, Shave - dressed in an orange-red segregation T-shirt - declined to speak.

Gagnon said the pattern of transactions indicates Shave was selling cocaine but not to fuel an addiction.

"I'm not sure it's mitigating but it provides some context," she said. "His involvement was more than that of just a courier."

Gagnon sentenced Shave to serve an additional 125 days in jail after crediting him one-and-a-half days for each day he has spent in pretrial custody.

She ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of $200 with 60 days to pay it upon his release.

She also ordered him to provide a DNA sample, prohibited him from using firearms for 10 years and agreed to the forfeitures suggested by the Crown.

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