A drug trafficker was sentenced to 12 months behind bars when he appeared in Territorial Court in Hay River on Sept. 24.
Fred Lafferty, 44, was one of the people charged in 2017 as a result of Operation Grand Slam, when undercover RCMP officers played in the Coors Mixed Slo-Pitch Tournament.
NNSL file photo
Lafferty had earlier plead guilty to a charge of trafficking involving cocaine.
Originally, he'd been facing two trafficking charges from Aug. 5 and Aug. 6, 2017, and possession of property obtained by crime and possession for the purposes of trafficking from Aug. 7, 2017.
"He ultimately plead guilty to what we call a rolled-up version," said Crown attorney Trevor Johnson. "Count one was amended to include the whole date range. So ultimately he was found guilty of trafficking between Aug. 5 and 7."
Along with the 12 months in custody, Lafferty will be placed on probation for eight months after his release.
The sentence was handed down by Judge Jacques Desjardins from New Brunswick.
As part of the sentence, Lafferty will also be prohibited from possessing firearms for 10 years following his release and a sample of his DNA will be taken for a national registry.
According to a statement of facts agreed to by the Crown and the defence, Lafferty sold cocaine to an undercover officer, who had been taken to the accused's residence on Elm Street by another man the officer had met in the beer garden at the slo-pitch tournament.
On Aug. 5, 2017, the officer bought a 0.4-gram piece of hard cocaine for $80.
While returning to the beer garden, the undercover officer asked the other man for Lafferty's phone number and received it.
According to the agreed statement of facts, the officer texted the accused on Aug. 6, 2017, and arranged to meet to purchase more cocaine. That evening the accused and the officer met behind the bleachers at the slo-pitch tournament and the accused gave the officer two pieces of hard cocaine weighing a total of 0.8 grams for $160.
On Aug. 7, 2017, the RCMP obtained and executed a search warrant for the residence on Elm Street, where Lafferty was arrested.
In the nightstand in the bedroom occupied by the accused was a plastic bag containing 0.4 grams of powder cocaine and $2,015. The RCMP seized the bag of cocaine and the currency.
According to the agreed statement of facts, the currency in the nightstand included bills used by the undercover officer to purchase cocaine from the accused.