A Penhold man found packing a loaded handgun and 186 individually-wrapped packets of crack cocaine has been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, minus credit for time served.
Samir Mohamed, 27, was tried in November and convicted early in March of possession for trafficking and weapons charges in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench before Justice Monica Bast.
Mohamed was 23 and living in Red Deer on Feb. 11, 2009, when he was pulled over in Sylvan Lake for making an illegal U-turn.
Sylvan Lake RCMP Const. Sabrina Caterini became suspicious because of a strong odour of marijuana in the car and because Mohamed was sweating profusely and staring straight ahead while she questioned him, Justice Bast had said in reiterating the facts when she pronounced his guilt.
Caterini found a bag of individually-wrapped crack pieces in an inner pocket of his jacket and more drugs along with a loaded handgun in a tote bag on the passenger seat of the car, said Bast.
During their sentencing submissions on Thursday, defence counsel Shawn Beaver and Crown prosecutor David Inglis both pointed to Mohamed’s youth at the time of his arrest and the fact he had no prior criminal convictions as well as his stable marriage and the strong support of his mother and uncle as factors in his favour.
Aggravating factors include the fact that Mohamed had a loaded weapon in easy reach at the time he was pulled over, said Inglis.
“It was concealed in a bag in the front seat of the car, within easy reach of the accused.”
Inglis and Bast both pointed to the murder conviction in a neighbouring courtroom one day earlier of a Red Deer man who had ordered the shooting of a rival drug dealer as a timely reminder of the threat to society associated with cocaine trafficking in general and the additional threat posed by armed participants.
Citing a case from the Alberta Court of Appeal, Bast said “keeping it loaded means it is to be used for more than intimidation.”
She imposed a sentence of 3.5 years on the possession for trafficking charge and one year each on the four charges arising from carrying a concealed and loaded handgun.
The weapons sentences are to be served concurrently with each other, but consecutive to the possession sentence.
The term is to include 224 days of credit for the 149 days Mohamed has served in pre-trial custody and includes a 10-year weapons prohibition to begin upon his release.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com