NORTH BATTLEFORD – A Westside Outlaws street gang member has been moved to an Alberta prison.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Jennifer Schmidt waived 27-year-old Jonathan Swiftwolfe’s attendance in North Battleford Provincial Court Wednesday saying he is now at the Drumheller Institution in Alberta.
In October, the court heard that the warden of Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert asked the Crown for the court’s help moving Swiftwolfe to an Alberta prison.
“He is a Westside Outlaw and incompatible with nearly everyone at (the penitentiary),” Schmidt had told the court, adding that the warden was concerned about keeping Swiftwolfe in segregation.
Saskatchewan Penitentiary - a federal prison - houses members of the Terror Squad street gang and its associates on its own range. Indian Posse is another street gang with its own section at the prison. Two years ago there was a violent shift in the relationship between Indian Posse and Westside Outlaws at Saskatchewan’s provincial jails, according to the Sask. Ministry of Justice.
In June, Swiftwolfe started serving a four-year sentence at Saskatchewan Penitentiary for weapons and assault charges. He was arrested a month later at the penitentiary and charged with first-degree murder in 54-year-old Bradley John Ham’s death last year. Ham’s body was found near a grid road about 30 kilometres southeast of Glaslyn on Nov. 27, 2020.
Cassandra Fox, 24, was also charged with first-degree murder in Ham’s death. She was arrested at Pine Grove Correctional Centre where she was following an incident in December 2020 involving a police pursuit of Swiftwolfe and Fox that reached speeds of up to 190 km/hour. At the time of her arrest, Fox was wanted on warrants for assault with a weapon and failure to comply with a release order.
Both Swiftwolfe and Fox face additional charges out of Swift Current including theft of a vehicle, theft, possession of stolen property, firearms offences, and breach of court orders. The court heard that the Swift Current charges against Swiftwolfe and Fox are interconnected with the murder charges and need to be heard together in North Battleford court.
Swiftwolfe’s Swift Current charges were adjourned to Nov. 28, 2022, when he has a preliminary hearing scheduled on the Glaslyn first-degree murder charge. His defence, Mike Nolin, entered a waiver of delay. If there are unreasonable delays defence can file a Jordan Application, which seeks to have the case thrown out of court. In 2016 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled cases must be heard within a certain time frame. The Jordan Decision stipulates that once charges are laid, provincial cases must be heard within 18 months and superior court cases within 30 months.
Fox also had an appearance scheduled in North Battleford Provincial Court Dec. 15 on her charges out of Swift Current. Those matters were adjourned to Jan. 18, 2022.
