BY MARGARET SPEIRS.

AD “LENGTHY narcotics
trial. ended here abruptly

last’ week as. the result of. |
what looks like a deal struck |
" between © prosecutors and
defence, lawyers for .three :

"accused people. |
Garrett -

” phetamine -while .. charges

against two ‘other ‘people:

~ were ‘Stayed.

~ He received a one. year’

" conditional ' sentence . of
‘house : arrest with one year « of
probation to follow. "

Charges against Chepil,
26 at the time of his arrest,

and two other people, came

after | a house: at 4827 La-
“gelle. Ave. was damaged

after a fire broke out March

2, 2004.0,
Firefighters who went! to

7 the house, located about half
-.“.a-block from their firehall,
_ called police. when they no- . .

-ticed: what they believed was
equipment and items consis-
tent with those used to _pro- |
duce methamphetamine. ;
: ‘They were located in the

"Started. :
The trial began, in early.

ae. March but ended ‘March 23°

“after 13 days j in the’ Terrace
courthouse. » ‘
“ Chepil : will, be ‘under a

curfew. from -10. p.m. to 6

am. during the house arrest

. and must complete 50 hours "’

of community work.service.
 Heis’ "<prohibited from
owning: or possessing fire-

“ -arms for'10 years.

~* Federal. - Crown Terry
"Wright. told. Mr. . Justice «
Douglas Halfyard that.
_ Crown and defence counsel
"were submitting a joint sen-
tencing proposal, agreeing
that a 12-month conditional .
sentence was appropriate.
“When Chepil _ plead
guilty, Crown and defence

i ay Said that the charges would

““"e stayed against the other

: two defendants, Jonah Wy- -
_ att McEwan, and Laura Rhi-

' anna. Phelps. He was 22 at -

Sy

Do you have y
clouds dreaming

"John Chepil
~ pleaded guilty to one count ©:
of production of. metham- °

‘upstairs’ room: where the fire _

toe enc ‘city’s first met 1 Mal

:
‘
i

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - A3

News In Brief

FIREFIGHTERS WORK outside of a a house on 1 Lazelle In'March 2004 found to contain materials 5 for making —

crystal meth. Firefighters first responded when the house caught fire and then called i in police. It has since been
_ demolished and one person has pleaded guilty.

: FILE PHOTO -

the time of his arrest and she.
, was 19... .
Terrace’ RCMP . inves-
tigated and -‘Chepil and. the
-others . were , arrested days
later at a Jackpine Flats resi-

_ dence and charged with meth

production between Jan. 1,
2004 and March 2, 2004,

A number of cleaning
compounds: ‘and
items consistent with those
_used to make. and: produce

meth were found in the La-,

zelle Ave. house and around

_the property and at the Jack- :

‘pine Flats residence.

- Crown Terry Wright said :

“ meth is “clearly a very dan-

. gerous drug” and that meth |
.produced in a lab setup is~
volatile and combustible and |

poses a danger for firefight-
ers and other first respond-.
ers.

aN The court has to be clear -

that it:will:protect firefight-
“ers and ~ first responders,
_Waght said.

_ lab-type -

He said: Crown, wanted

to be clear that a conditional °
sentence order is not always : -

‘appropriate and should ‘not
- be seen as a. precedent in
meth lab production cases.
In. most. cases.a jail sen-
) tence would be the Crown’s

position because ‘of the seri- -
ousness ofthe drug, he said. .

‘A conditional sentence
was appropriate for Chepil
_ because of his age — he was

- 26 at the time of his arrest -
.— his lack of a criminal re-
.cord and the fact-that he’s _
appeared to-have abided by .
the conditions of his bail for.
“the last two years, Wright.

. told the court.
» By pleading: guilty Chepil
saved the Crown, court and
police time and money, he
‘said.
Wright estimated that the

trial;would’ve continued for «

- another ; 1 1,.to: 12: -days and
two; witnesses would have

had to be Prouent back to .

our wr head i in the
of the mountains?

court from outside of town.

. “The heart of the‘matter is
the scale of the lab. There’s
no clear evidence that’ traf-

‘ficking resulted or was like- —

ly to result,” he said. “Police
advised .me that#'there was
no indication that a meth lab

was operating in Terrace in’

two months.”

“There was no indication “
~ that there was.a-spike in the

amount of meth available on

“Police indicated it was

a total surprise to-them that _

the lab was there.”
‘While reviewing the trial

- before . handing. down his’ -
_ sentence, Halfyard said that ~
-chemistry expert Brian Tay-:
lor indicated the alleged lab_
. was a small scale’ operation,

using unsophisticated mate-
rial to produce 32 grams of
meth, an amount consistent

with personal use with a.

bulk value of $750 and about.

twice that amount if sold i in:

‘smaller gram portions.

o

‘Taylor was unable to say _
if the fire started as a result --
of the lab operations or how -

- long the meth lab was in op-. °

eration, Halfyard said.
Halfyard continued that
defence counsel had indicat-
ed that Chepil did not. pro-
duce meth in.the house but

in another shed or building”
_ on the property and moved _
the street .in Terrace in that ‘
particular time frame. <

the meth production mate-

-Tials into the house because —

they were being stolen.

. in other: ways because of its
use, Halfyard told the court.

Meth is similar to cocaine .

and heroin and causes ag-

‘ gressive . and violent. behav-,
iour as: well, Halfyard added”
‘in relaying: his. sentencing,

reasons.

- The only. aggravating cir-
“cumstance in the ‘case was. "|
that meth is a hard drug that >
poses a ‘danger. to people’s..
health and can be dangerous: |

Probation ordered
for drug possession
A SUSPENDED sentence was handed down to a local
man arrested for possession of illegal drugs.

‘Michael Richard Dignard plead guilty to one count
of possession of marijuana and was ordered to serve six
months on probation by Judge Ed de Walle in Terrace .
Provincial Court March 21. »

Dignard must abstain from the consumption of il-
legal drugs and undergo any counselling as directed by
_ his probation officer. _

‘Dignard was arrested locally on Oct. 10; “2005 and
made his first court appearance Dec. 13, 2005.

Brush fires contained

THE. TERRACE Fire Department responded ‘to two.
brush fires in the city on the afternoon of March 29 that -
got away from residents in windy conditions but both
were contained.

‘Dave Jephson of the Terrace Fire Department said.
both burns — one on the 5100 block of McConnell Ave. :
and the other on a vacant lot at the intersection of Eby

. St. and Davis Ave. -- were unplanned.

Fines were not levied in either incident but Jephson:
“said the fire department urges residents to bum with
‘ caution and within the city’ s allotted time: period for
burns — April 1 to May 15...’ ‘

* Jephson. said: precautions include having a water
hose, rake and shovel, pulling grass away from build-
ings, avoiding burning against buildings and fences and’
“eAmEnE ¢ conditions are ayt but not t windy.

: TWO SNOWMOBILES plus ‘the trailer they were on.

" disappeared from i in front of the. Best Western Hotel at

4553 Greig. Ave.’ ‘some time during the night of March
23,0

. The owners parked their vehicie at 9: 30 p. m. and-
retuned: the next morning, March 24, to find. the
hitch lock broken and the 2002 blue and grey Polaris
-RMK800, the 2004 black Bombardier REV800 and the.
trailer gone.

_ Terrace RCMP a are: asking for the public’ s help with’
this investigation. Anyone, with information about this ”
theft is asked to call police at 638-7400 « or Crimestop-
pers at 635-8477.

Crimestoppers i: is an | anonymous tips line: Callers are
never identified. Their information, if it proves: success-

result in an award being paid.” Bg

Vodka swiped

A THIEF made off with some alcohol and some gaming.
- equipment after breaking, ‘into. #22812 Molitor’ St,

March 25.)
Around 9:40. a.m., the ‘culprit ‘entered ‘through the

front door, grabbed a bottle of Smirnoff Orange Twist:
Vodka and two black X-box controllers and fled.

_ful-in the arrest and the conviction of. offenders, could oe

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