A dial-a-dope phone operator who sold crack cocaine to undercover police officers appeared in NWT territorial court for a sentencing hearing – but his fate remains undetermined following “creative” submissions from his lawyer.
Russell Hamilton, 41, appeared before Chief judge Christine Gagnon on Wednesday to be sentenced on convictions of drug trafficking and possession – charges he previously plead guilty to.
But a tug-of-war between Hamilton's lawyer Katherine Oja and Crown prosecutor Duane Praught on sentencing submissions prompted Gagnon to put off her decision in order to consider the “challenging” arguments made by both parties.
Hamilton, the court heard, was arrested and charged following the launch of “Project Glacier,” an investigation into street and mid-level drug trafficking in Yellowknife led by the RCMP's Federal Investigation Unit.
The probe, initiated in March of 2017, led police to Hamilton after uncover officers called a number associated with a dial-a-dope phone – an operation that connected would-be drug users to crack cocaine.
After a man answered the call on March 14, 2017 and arranged a drug deal, Hamilton met with undercover officers at a city apartment building, selling them one street gram – 0.4 grams – of crack cocaine for $80.
Two days later, on March 16, a search warrant was executed at Hamilton's residence. Hamilton, who wasn't home, was later intercepted by RCMP officers as he walked up a flight of stairs to his apartment.
Hamilton was found to be in possession of four pieces of crack cocaine, $158 and a crack pipe. A search of his apartment yielded cell phones, a digital scale and “score sheets,” lists used to keep track of drug debts.
In court, the Crown and defence painted two starkly differently portraits of Hamilton and his involvement in drug trafficking, with the former depicting the defendant as the operator of a “commercialized” dial-a-dope operation that introduced dangerous drugs into the community.
Oja, on the other hand, cited her client's ongoing struggles with addiction, contending he engaged in drug trafficking for the purpose of supporting his own crack habit – one that saw Hamilton smoke up to 10 grams of crack a night – not for reasons tied to greed or financial gain.
Praught didn't deny Hamilton's history of crack addiction but said by selling to vulnerable people with “past pains,” the defendant contributed to putting his customers on the same path he was on.
“That can't be forgotten,” said Praught, adding that Hamilton was already on two probation orders at the time of his arrest, both of which were breached.
He plead guilty to charges stemming from both violations.
Oja and Praught sparred over appropriate sentences for Hamilton's convictions.
The defence cited a similar case in which the defendant – an addict who's upbringing, marked by trauma and substance abuse, closely mirrored that of Hamilton's – was handed a lesser sentence due to his severe addiction, which was the primary catalyst in his dealing of drugs.
Asking Gagnon to consider the recent case, Oja called for an “unusual” sentence to be rendered, one that would see importance placed on rehabilitation rather than deterrence by combining an intermittent sentence with a conditional sentence, which would be served concurrently.
Praught, noting the nine times Hamilton had previously failed to comply with conditional sentences, expressed “concern” with Oja's submission and instead sought a global sentence of 15 months in custody followed by two years probation.
Hamilton, now 10 months clean and sober, will learn his fate on March 26 when Gagnon renders her decision.