Project Debris drug dealer sent to prison

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This article was published 12/08/2022 (1290 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A “street-level” member of a major drug ring will spend almost three years in a federal penitentiary after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine and cocaine on Thursday.

Shawna Dawson, 51, appeared in a Brandon courtroom via live video, after her defence lawyer Hayley Allardyce reached a joint agreement with Crown attorney Ken Hawkins.

Judge Patrick Sullivan endorsed the joint agreement and sentenced Dawson to 33 months in prison, minus the 240 equivalent days she has already spent in custody.

Dawson will also be subject to two years of supervised probation once she’s released from prison and must abide by a variety of other conditions such as a lifetime weapons prohibition.

While Dawson has a pre-existing criminal record, her most recent arrest came as a result of Project Debris, a joint police operation spearheaded by the Manitoba RCMP, Brandon Police Service and Rivers Police Service to bust a local drug trafficking network with ties to British Columbia.

Following a seven-month investigation, which involved wiretaps and other forms of electronic surveillance, the police 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.

During Thursday’s court appearance, Allardyce said her client was a part of this network and was responsible for trafficking “small, street-level” amounts of meth and cocaine.

However, Allardyce said she and the Crown did take into account some of Dawson’s personal circumstances when coming up with this joint recommendation.

Not only is Dawson struggling with addiction herself, selling drugs to fuel her habit directly, but she was also operating “under the thumb” of the drug network’s kingpin, Jorg Rautenberg.

Since Dawson and Rautenberg have a son together, Allardyce said the ringleader was able to use that familial connection to exploit and manipulate her client even further.

Sullivan showed some sympathy for Dawson’s situation, but he reminded the court on Thursday that trafficking a “pernicious substance” like meth is a serious crime, especially since it has a much broader impact on the community and the legal system.

“This is anecdotal, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was fuelling the majority of the crime we see on our docket daily,” the judge said. “Property crime, theft, those sorts of things, are fuelled by meth, which has just taken over Brandon over the last several years. “

Dawson herself said very little in court on Thursday, simply telling the judge that she was sorry for her actions and is “working really hard to change myself.”

Even though Sullivan was encouraged by Dawson’s apparent display of remorse through her guilty plea and her plan to maintain sobriety once she is released from prison, he reminded the woman that a lot is riding on her successful rehabilitation.

“I think you know that if you don’t maintain sobriety, if you don’t get that issue under control, you’re bound to find yourself back here,” Sullivan said. “So bear that in mind.”

Dawson isn’t the only person who has been put behind bars because of Project Debris.

On June 15, Mitchell Livingstone was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for his role as a mid- to street-level member of this drug trafficking network.

A week later, his father, Jim Livingstone, who is also Dawson’s current common-law partner, received two and a half years behind bars for his status as a “lower-end” member of the organization.

Several other individuals charged as a result of Project Debris are still before the court and they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson