Men get jail time after drugs and weapons bust

Two men were each sentenced to more than two years behind bars in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench after they were caught in a vehicle carrying drugs and weapons.

At their sentencing hearing on Monday, Andrew Medicine pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, and Zachery Medicine pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited firearm without a licence and while bound by court orders not to possess firearms.

Crown attorney Serena Erhmantrout read the facts behind the guilty pleas.

On April 23, 2024, Brandon Police Service’s organized crime section was executing a search warrant at a residence on Westaway Bay for an unrelated investigation when a black SUV pulled into the driveway.

Police recognized the driver as Zachery Medicine, who at the time had a warrant out for his arrest. Two other men were with him in the vehicle — Albert Mecas and Andrew Medicine.

Officers told Zachery he was under arrest.

“Additional OCS members then attended to the vehicle to assist with the arrest. It was at that time that (the officer) observed a gun barrel in the back of the SUV in plain view,” Erhmantrout said.

The three men were then detained for a firearms investigation.

While searching the vehicle, an officer saw two hunting rifles with scopes. BPS arrested the men for unauthorized possession of firearms.

The vehicle was towed to BPS headquarters to be searched further. Brandon police also confirmed that Zachery was a lifetime suspended driver.

“Following the search of the vehicle, police located … a pair of brass knuckles that was in the driver’s door cubby hole, 12-gauge ammunition, also in the driver’s door cubby hole, 34.4 grams of methamphetamine in the centre console,” the Crown said.

Officers also found several more weapons, including a Revolution Armory 410-gauge shotgun with the “stock removed, barrel cut down and the serial code … tampered with,” and various types of ammunition.

The shotgun was tested and met the description of a prohibited firearm. The gun also tested positive for Zachery’s DNA.

“There was a cellphone analysis concluded on both Mr. Zachery and Andrew Medicine’s cellphones, both of which depicted numerous text messages related to the trafficking of illicit substances and related to trafficking of firearms,” Erhmantrout said.

She said the Crown accepted that Zachery was only in possession of the shotgun and Andrew was only in possession of the methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking.

The three men have remained in custody since they were arrested in April 2024 and were scheduled to stand a four-day trial this week but were able to come to a resolution several weeks in advance.

Albert Mecas’s charges were formally stayed on Monday, and the lawyers presented a joint recommendation for both Andrew and Zachery’s sentences.

The lawyers recommended a sentence of time already served for Andrew, which is equivalent to roughly 27 months, and a sentence of 36 months for Zachery, leaving him with roughly nine months going forward.

Justice Elliot Leven accepted the lawyers’ recommendations for both men, without requiring them to argue the reasons for the sentences suggested. He called them appropriate and logical.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com