Bail granted in drug trafficking case

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This article was published 16/03/2021 (1843 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man accused of possessing drugs for the purpose of trafficking and receiving thousands of dollars worth of methamphetamine through the mail was given bail on Monday.

Steven Gervais is charged in a number of incidents, the most serious of which happened on Nov. 11, 2020, federal Crown attorney Daniel Manning told the Brandon provincial court.

Gervais is presumed innocent until proven guilty and the charges are still before the courts.

On Nov. 11, Manning said a Brandon police officer was training a police dog to detect drugs at a local courier depot. The RCMP crime reduction enforcement support team was involved in an investigation of people using the courier to ship drugs from British Columbia to Brandon.

One of the packages from B.C. had the return address marked as the courier depot it came from, said Manning. The police officer had information the address it was being sent to was someone related to Gervais.

The officer had grounds to suspect the package could contain drugs, the Crown said, and the police dog gave the same indication.

As a result, police set up surveillance on the delivery of the package, including the address it was set to go to. Manning said the officer saw a white taxi pull up outside the residence. Gervais then got out.

Gervais allegedly then went to the door and went inside, before emerging a few minutes later with the package police had noted could contain drugs.

Police stopped the taxi, said Manning, and Gervais was the only person inside. When officers approached the taxi, they allegedly saw him trying to discard the package in the seat behind him.

“There’s some effort by Mr. Gervais to disassociate himself with that package,” said Manning.

Officers searched the package and found it contained approximately 247 grams of crystal methamphetamine, according to the Crown. Manning said the street value is between $5,000 to $6,000.

Gervais was also allegedly found with more than $700 in cash.

Then, on the morning of March 11, Gervais was allegedly at the Circle K convenience store on First Street, where Manning said he bought approximately $180 worth of merchandise with counterfeit American money.

On Saturday, Manning said he was found at Walmart, after allegedly using more counterfeit money.

The accused is also facing other drug charges from October 2020.

Manning opposed Gervais being released on bail again, saying he had many opportunities to be in the community, but he keeps coming before the court and breaching conditions.

Defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn argued Gervais could be released on bail again, saying police saw fit to release him after arresting him on a number of occasions on significant charges. He also argued Gervais wasn’t caught reoffending for a significant time between December 2020 and March 2021.

Synyshyn suggested a bail plan where Gervais would live outside Brandon, which would hopefully keep him away from activities that bring him before the court.

“Mr. Gervais did contact my office, he did say to me Brandon was becoming too much of a place where he found himself relapsing into his old ways,” he said.

Judge Patrick Sullivan said the decision wasn’t an easy one to make, but he granted Gervais’ release on bail to live with family outside Brandon. He also placed him on a nighttime curfew.

He said though if Gervais is arrested again, a judge would be very unlikely to release him.

“I want to impress upon you, Mr. Gervais, the seriousness of the charges you’re facing and reiterate that if you do not abide by these conditions, the likelihood of you being released again is very slim,” said Sullivan.

Gervais is next scheduled to appear in court in April.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @DrewMay_