MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM — A judge has sentenced Wyatt Dickson to nearly five years in jail for possessing and trafficking drugs, but he’ll spend less than half that behind bars because of his time already served.
Wyatt, 26, from Swift Current, appeared by phone recently in Moose Jaw Provincial Court and pleaded guilty to:
- Possessing meth for trafficking purposes (twice)
- Possession of fentanyl
- Carrying a concealed weapon (switchblade)
- Possessing a prohibited weapon (ammunition)
- Possessing a firearm while prohibited from doing so
The Crown stayed several other charges.
As part of a joint submission, Dickson received 24 months of jail for the Moose Jaw charge of possessing meth for trafficking purposes and 30 months on top of that for the same charge from Swift Current, for 1,620 total days of jail, or 4.5 years.
However, because he spent 275 actual days on remand for the Moose Jaw charges, the court gave him enhanced credit of 412 days, and because he spent 358 actual days on remand for the Swift Current offences, the court credited him with 537 days served, for a total of 949 enhanced days.
Therefore, this leaves him with 671 actual days left to serve, or just under two years.
The court put Dickson on a firearms-related prohibition order in April 2017, but on Jan. 3, 2022, he broke that restriction, explained Suzanne Young, the federal Crown prosecutor.
Moose Jaw police found Dickson and a friend passed out in a running vehicle in the Pizza Hut parking lot, she continued. Officers arrested him for breaching the firearms prohibition order after finding the switchblade knife on him.
“Mr. Dickson appeared confused and agitated (and was) twitching with jerky movements, but … he was not non-compliant with police during his interactions with police,” said Young.
Officers also discovered methamphetamine totalling 134 grams, fentanyl totalling 3.9 grams and another substance weighing 2.9 grams. Other items included weigh scales, seven cellphones, a box of .22-calibre ammunition, a box of shotgun shells and a machete.
His Swift Current charges occurred in 2022 after police there opened an investigation into him possibly trafficking cocaine, fentanyl and meth, the prosecutor continued. They surveilled him three times in December at his motel room and noticed people visiting him often.
Police acquired a search warrant and arrested Dickson and another person in the motel room. There they discovered small bags of crack cocaine, knives, brass knuckles, weigh scales ammunition, money, bags and vials of meth, and small rubber containers with fentanyl, crack and unknown pills.
In total, there were 7.56 grams of meth, 1.15 grams of fentanyl, 1.79 grams of crack cocaine, and $1,325 in cash. Officers also found government-issued safer crystal meth smoking kits.
There are several aggravating factors to this case, including Dickson’s criminal record, the presence of weapons, the fact he was on a release order and that he possessed controlled substances, said Young. The courts have recognized that fentanyl poses a big problem to every Canadian community.
“… this isn’t — or shouldn’t be — characterized as a sophisticated trafficking enterprise,” she stated, adding while the drug seizure in Moose Jaw was not insignificant, it wasn’t at the kilogram level.
Dickson is homeless and was living out of his vehicle when Moose Jaw police found him under the influence — he’s had an addiction since age 15 — and arrested him, said defence lawyer Estes Fonkalsrud.
He has spent all his pandemic benefits on illegal substances, while he even sold most of his possessions to purchase drugs. He had planned to sell his car in Swift Current to buy more since he had run out.
In some of these trafficking situations, Dickson was providing his friends with small amounts so they could use drugs together.
“He was living a very unfortunate life at the time … with a drug addiction that was out of control,” Fonksalrud said, adding his client plans to pursue addiction programming and learn a trade when he’s released.
Judge David Chow accepted the joint submission and agreed to waive the victim surcharge.
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