Project Debris: Father pleads guilty, son denied bail

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This article was published 12/05/2022 (1600 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A father and son appeared in a Brandon courtroom on Thursday for their roles in a local drug network that was uncovered following the seven-month-long police operation known as Project Debris.

The father, James Livingstone, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic a schedule-1 substance.

His son, Mitchell Livingstone, was denied bail by Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta.

Even though both men are currently incarcerated for their involvement in the criminal organization, and appeared in court via live video, their respective roles in this group were drastically different.

James Livingstone’s defence attorney, Candace Olson, reminded the court on Thursday that his client would mostly serve as a driver for Jorg Rautenberg, who is known to police as the ringleader of the drug gang in question.

“Mr. Rautenberg had no licence and you [James Livingstone] often drove him around for some different types of trips,” Olson said. “Sometimes these were innocent trips to the store, but often times you knew that they were stops for business purposes, so to speak, for his drug trafficking network.”

When Rautenberg was incarcerated last year, James Livingstone admitted to passing messages and instructions from Rautenberg to other members of the drug network on the outside.

By contrast, Hewitt-Michta described Mitchell Livingstone as a “key player” in Rautenberg’s network, who would operate as a mid-level trafficker supplying lower-level street dealers with drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl.

“The evidence suggests the accused was dealing with tens of thousands of dollars,” the judge said. “He was operating under Jorg Rautenberg, but he had a network of dealers who were beholden to him as well. There is further evidence that this accused was cooking crack cocaine for distribution and sale.”

However, Hewitt-Michta did not deny Mitchell Livingstone’s release on Thursday entirely because of his involvement in the local drug ring.

Rather, she wanted to keep him behind bars until sentencing because of the accused’s repeated habit of violating the conditions of his bail following past arrests.

“Mr. [Mitchell] Livingstone was convicted in late November 2019 of possession for the purposes of trafficking and other offences. He walked out of custody with a time-served disposition and a firearms prohibition. He promptly returned to selling drugs and possessing firearms,” she said.

“He was arrested in October 2020 for possession for the purposes of trafficking and weapons offences, obtained release on bail, and promptly returned to the drug trade and involvement with firearms. His past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour, and there is every reason to believe the accused will return to the drug trade if granted bail once again.”

Both Mitchell and James Livingstone are scheduled to reappear in court in June.

Much of the evidence being used to convict these men was uncovered through Project Debris, a joint police operation spearheaded by members of the Manitoba RCMP, Brandon Police Service and Rivers Police Service.

Following a lengthy investigation, which involved wiretaps and other forms of electronic surveillance, the police groups executed seven search warrants at various locations in the Westman region in late April 2021.

This resulted in several arrests and the seizure of illicit drugs, illegal firearms, stolen vehicles and $17,000 in cash.

According to a followup news release from the RCMP, this network has ties to British Columbia, with the distribution and sale of illicit drugs being funnelled into the Brandon area.

More individuals who were arrested as a result of Project Debris are expected to appear in a Brandon courtroom in the coming weeks and months.

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