Man charged with cocaine trafficking denied bail

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This article was published 19/07/2024 (621 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man will remain behind bars after allegedly being involved in trafficking thousands of dollars’ worth of cocaine in Brandon.

Myron Tanner, 33, made an unsuccessful bid for bail in provincial court Thursday afternoon.

Tanner is facing numerous drug-trafficking charges after he was allegedly found by Brandon police with 18 ounces of cocaine and more than 100 unstamped cigarettes last month.

The Crown opposed Tanner’s release based on concern for public safety and his likelihood to reoffend.

The charges against Tanner have not been proven in court and he remains innocent until proven guilty.

The Crown attorney for the federal government, Kayleigh Robertson, read the evidence for the charges to the court.

On the morning of June 17, Brandon police were patrolling on 13th Street when they noticed a red truck with a burnt-out taillight.

They followed the truck and noticed it made a left on McTavish Avenue without using a turn signal.

Officers signalled for the truck to pull over, and the truck came to a stop on 12th Street.

Police questioned the driver, first about his licence and then if he had been drinking. Officers noticed two other people in the vehicle, one of whom appeared to be smoking from a box of unstamped cigarettes.

Officers believed there were more unstamped cigarettes in the truck, so they conducted a search of the vehicle.

Inside the truck, they allegedly found a backpack with a status card belonging to the driver, papers with phone numbers, and 140 unstamped cigarettes.

In another bag, multiple pills, which police suspected were oxycodone, were found in a bottle that appeared to have the prescription scratched off. Another zippered bag allegedly contained cocaine, which was packaged in individual one-ounce bags.

A bag of crack cocaine was allegedly also found in addition to three other bags of cocaine, for a total of 18 ounces of the drug. A total of $2,700 in cash and drug packaging materials were also found.

Robinson said that depending on how it was sold, the street value of the cocaine was between $27,000 and $50,000.

Police arrested the driver and the passengers for drug trafficking.

Robinson cited Tanner’s previous convictions for failing to comply with court orders and drug trafficking. She said that Tanner poses a risk to public safety as the quantity of drugs allegedly found would constitute mid-level trafficking.

“It’s a very lucrative way of life for many, so it creates a strong incentive to continue on in the criminal conduct even when released on bail,” the Crown attorney said.

Tanner’s lawyer, Anthony Dawson, said his client grew up in the care of Child and Family Services and was exposed to drugs and alcohol at a young age.

The defence lawyer presented a bail plan that would have Tanner living at an address in Brandon with a friend. He would have to post a $1,000 cash bail and have two people serve as sureties. He would also be subject to curfew and sobriety checks and searches of his residence by police.

Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta noted how serious the allegations were, especially the cocaine and crack cocaine, which she described as highly addictive and dangerous drugs that were a “serious concern in our community.”

She also expressed concern with Tanner’s criminal record and sided with the Crown’s arguments that there were grounds to keep Tanner behind bars out of concern for both public safety and the likelihood that he would reoffend. Ultimately, she said that Tanner’s bail plan was not strong enough to address the court’s concerns, and denied Tanner bail.

“The quantity of the security that’s offered really has to be measured against the allegations here, which point to the very lucrative nature of the drug trade and the ease with which people involved in that sort of behaviour come into possession of large quantities of cash,” Hewitt-Michta said.

“So looked at in that context, I don’t think that the security that’s offered is particularly significant or convincing.”

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

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