A trial date will be set in early January for a Red Deer man who was among a group of people arrested during a series of police raids in Red Deer and Sylvan Lake in January 2011.
James Willert, 26 at the time of the bust, had pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges laid against him, including trafficking drugs, possession of drugs for trafficking, possessing proceeds of crime and a number of weapons charges.
Willert and five others were arrested in a police investigation that resulted in raids at one home in Sylvan Lake and four in Red Deer. Investigators seized drugs, cash and weapons.
Willert was to have a preliminary inquiry on the 11 charges in Red Deer provincial court on Thursday.
However, the preliminary inquiry was waived after Willert’s lawyer asked that his client be committed to stand trial on five of the 11 counts against him, including drug charges, possessing proceeds of crime, unauthorized possession of a firearm and unauthorized possession of a restricted or prohibited firearm.
Willert returns to court on Jan. 7 to set a date for his trial, to be heard by judge alone.