A B.C. man who relocated to southeast Saskatchewan last year in an effort to escape from his troubled past found himself in trouble with the law again, and pleaded guilty in Estevan Provincial Court on Monday to numerous charges, including dangerous driving, drug possession and theft.
Cody Shawn Whitecap-Logan of Estevan was sentenced to 547 days, or 18 months in custody, based on a joint submission by Crown prosecutors and the defence. He will have to spend the next 283 days in custody, as he was given credit for time and a half for the 264 days he has already been in custody.
He pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving and trafficking cocaine, stemming from an arrest near Oxbow on June 6, 2018, theft following a break and enter in Weyburn a few days later, possession of meth following an arrest in Estevan last year, three counts of breaching an undertaking and two counts of mischief.
Provincial Crown attorney Chris Gratton noted that on June 6, 2018, the Carnduff RCMP were informed of an erratic driver who was driving down the wrong side of the road on Highway 18.
Police conducted a traffic stop near Oxbow on the vehicle. When Whitecap-Logan was exiting the vehicle, he didn’t put the vehicle in park, and he was seen putting items into his pocket. Police located a bag of white powder on him that proved to be cocaine. They also found scales, drug-related scoresheets and paraphernalia.
Whitecap-Logan was also arrested a few days later in connection with a break-in at the 306 Creamery ice cream shop in Weyburn on June 12. He stole $3,600 from a deposit bag, $200 in cash, two laptops and more. He was arrested a short time after the incident.
He was also arrested twice in Weyburn for breaching his release conditions, and on Oct. 24 of last year, he was arrested in Estevan for breaching those release conditions and for the possession of meth.
Several other charges were stayed by the prosecution.
His Legal Aid attorney Susan Wurtz noted that Whitecap-Logan is 22 years old and originally from Vancouver. His mother was addicted to crack cocaine, and Whitecap-Logan lived in 15 foster homes in 18 years; in one of those foster homes, he was locked up for three years.
He started using drugs at age 11 to escape from the realities of his life.
Whitecap-Logan came to Saskatchewan last year, because of a half-sister living in Estevan. He found employment in the oil patch, but fell back into his old ways during spring road bans.
In addition to the jail sentence, he was given a one-year driving ban and a 10-year firearms prohibition. He also had to forfeit some of the items seized, and he has to pay restitution of $1,000 to the 306 Creamery within six months of his release.
