By Charlene Tebbutt

Drug trafficker loses appeal of first-time conviction, sentence

Jan 15, 2019 | 3:00 PM

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal of a first-time conviction and jail sentence handed down in a local drug trafficking case.

Andrew John Bissky was convicted and sentenced to 12 months in jail for trafficking after 110 grams of cocaine in various packages and two cellphones locked in a safe were found inside his home. According to a court decision posted to an online legal database, the search also turned up a small amount of cocaine on a bedside table, and a hollow metal tube, suggesting cocaine use.

Police estimated the value of the cocaine to be between $6,000 and $8,800, although the cellphones showed no evidence of having been used for trafficking.

Bissky, 33, took his case to the court of appeal saying police didn’t have reasonable grounds to search his home and challenged testimony from a police expert who said the cocaine found in Bissky’s home was evidence of trafficking. Bissky also took issue with information provided by police informants in the matter.

Bissky, who had no prior criminal record before the conviction, argued his personal circumstances led to drug and alcohol abuse. Employed in Alberta for five years, Bissky was laid off in 2015 and turned to alcohol and drugs to cope with various factors including unemployment, a medical emergency and the end of a relationship.

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The Crown also appealed the 12-month jail sentenced in the matter, saying the sentence did not fit the seriousness of the crime. The appeals court also dismissed the Crown’s appeal of the sentence, and ordered Bissky to turn himself in to begin serving his sentence.

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt