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Former Chief of the Key First Nation sentenced for trafficking morphine

Jul 4, 2014 | 1:40 PM

Sitting in the defendant's box, the former Chief of the Key First Nation, Clarence Papequash, didn't show any emotion as he was sentenced Friday morning for trafficking morphine.

Papequash, 61, was given a six-month conditional sentence, six weeks of which he will be under house arrest. He will have to pay a $300 victim surcharge and submit to a DNA order. He will also have to comply with several conditions including living at an approved residence, and not possessing or consuming any drugs or alcohol.

He was arrested in 2011 for facilitating the sale of half a morphine pill from his wife to an undercover RCMP officer. In a separate hearing, his wife pleaded guilty and was given a three-month jail sentence.

In explaining her sentence, Justice Jennifer Pritchard said that Papequash was Chief of the Key First Nation at the time and is also an addictions counsellor which makes the offense much worse. She said “he should have known better.”

In her decision the justice wrote: “It is an indisputable reality that this community struggles with drugs and alcohol. Mr. Papequash has directly contributed to this serious problem and has violated the trust that was reposed in him… It was his job to help his community grow into a healthy and vibrant society. In this instance, he has let his community down, and has contributed to its crisis.

“Further aggravating is the fact that Mr. Papequash works as a drug counsellor. He must have had firsthand knowledge of the horrors involved in drug abuse. It was his job to be part of the solution. Instead, he has been part of the problem.”

In sentencing, the justice also took into account the conditions imposed on Papequash for the 30 months between his arrest and sentencing. He was under curfew, had cell phone restrictions, and restrictions on travel to Kamsack which Papequash argued served only to humiliate him as Chief. The justice said those restrictions seemed to serve no purpose.

Papequash had tried to argue that he felt pressure to commit the crime because the community has a strong tradition of sharing. But the justice's response was that “strong communities do not share drugs.”

Papequash has a long history of criminal offenses including 50 convictions spanning 45 years, though his last conviction on a drug offense was in 1990. He was elected Chief of the Key First Nation in 2008 and was re-elected in 2010, and 2012.

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