South Slave drug trafficker sentenced to 3 years in prison
Judge says phone conversations show Lacey Dawn Forrest was a co-conspirator in drug network
A Northwest Territories judge has sentenced a Fort Resolution woman to three years in prison for drug trafficking, saying she sold enough to be considered a "wholesaler."
Lacey Dawn Forrest, a 35-year-old mother of three, pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic cocaine. She was sentenced on Friday.
Court heard the amount of drugs Forrest was selling typically warrants a 4½-year minimum sentence.
Supreme Court Justice Virginia Schuler said Forrest was a trusted associate in Yellowknife's "dial-a-dope" operation, run by Norman Hache.
Forrest's role was to distribute drugs to street-level dealers, mostly in Fort Resolution, N.W.T., but also in Fort Smith and Hay River.
The defence portrayed Forrest as a reluctant dealer, simply trying to pay off debt.
However, Schuler said phone conversations between Forrest and Hache, recorded via RCMP wiretap, indicated that Forrest was not reluctant and was a co-conspirator in the network.
After Forrest was arrested in Fort Resolution, she reassured Hache "it would all blow over," Schuler said.
In the wiretapped phone conversations, Forrest also talks about someone who is "cutting her grass," which Schuler interpreted as someone who was cutting into her business.
Other factors
At the same time, Schuler pointed to mitigating factors in the case, saying Forrest had quit drugs and alcohol, was working, and had pleaded guilty to the charge.
Schuler also took Gladue factors into consideration, saying Forrest, who is Métis, grew up in a difficult and unhappy home.
Letters of support stated that Forrest was a hard worker who had held jobs in finance and was now helping her new partner run a trucking business.
However, Schuler said there was no doubt that Forrest must have thought about the risks to her three children if she was caught selling drugs, but she did it anyway.
The judge also noted that Forrest was aware that drugs were a big problem in Fort Resolution, leading to acts of violence and child neglect, but she didn't show concern for the children of the people she was supplying.
Besides the three-year prison term, Forrest must supply a DNA sample and is prohibited from using a firearm for 10 years.
Forrest is the latest person to be convicted in connection with the RCMP's "Green Manalishi" drug investigation.
More than 24 people were charged in the arrests made in that case. One person is left to be sentenced and another, Luqman Hussein of Toronto, is still at large, although a warrant was issued for his arrest.