Youth drug dealer escapes deportation

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This article was published 23/04/2015 (3287 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If he was punished for the same offence seven months later, one youth wouldn’t be looking at 18 months of probation but deportation instead.

A Steinbach-area youth was told how lucky he is to not have reached his 18th birthday when he was found on June 6, 2014 in Ste Anne in possession of illegal drugs to sell.

Not yet a Canadian citizen, the offender, if he was an adult and found guilty, would have been deported to his country of origin after his jail sentence because he was in prison for six months or more. Parliament brought that law in effect in 2013.

The youth, who cannot be named, was luckily shy of his 18th so the judge must adhere to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which favours rehabilitation over incarceration.

He and a few friends driving on Central Avenue caught the eye of Town of Ste Anne police. Police found a duffle bag in vehicle, belonging to the convicted, which included 57 capsules of ecstasy. The youth, then 17, said he intended to sell them.

“I thought I could make a quick buck, but soon realized it wasn’t worth it,” he told Judge Tim Killeen at Steinbach provincial court earlier this month.

In addition to 18 months of supervised probation, he must complete 40 hours of community service, attend any relevant counselling and adhere to a weapons probation and forfeiture of seized items.