Two different drivers, both on the Trans-Canada Highway and both pulled over for not having the appropriate mud flaps, pled guilty to drug charges in Canmore Provincial Court last week.
Istvan Mikula pleaded guilty to possession for the purpose of trafficking and received a six-month conditional sentence from Judge Les Grieve.
Crown prosecutor Anita Szabo said Mikula was pulled over for a traffic stop and the officer noted a number of indicators of drug possession. Szabo said the accused was arrested and a search of the vehicle using a dog found 1,000 THC candies, 10 cups of TCH ice cream and baked goods also containing marijuana.
Szabo made a joint recommendation with defence counsel Anne Wilson for a six-month conditional sentence and $5,000 fine. The conditional sentence was set to act as a jail term that can be served in the community and resulted in house arrest for Mikula for the first three months and a curfew for the remaining three months.
Edward Prest pleaded guilty to possession after he was stopped for not having mud flaps and found to have 938.1 grams of marijuana. Prest had a medicinal marijuana licence at the time. He told the judge he misunderstood the licence and was moving when he was pulled over. The licence only allows him to travel with 150 grams in his possession at any one time.
Prest was fined $2,600 as a result of the guilty plea, which was to a lesser-included offence.
“In Alberta,” said Grieve, “you have to have mud flaps.”
