THUNDER BAY - A GTA man who was under a court order to not be within the district of Thunder Bay was sentenced on Thursday for four charges including simple drug possession, resisting a peace officer and carrying a concealed weapon.
Alexander Aaron Abramovich, 18, of Richmond Hill appeared in court by audio on Thursday, July 16 to enter four guilty pleas to offences that occurred in March and April in the city of Thunder Bay.
Crown lawyers told the court on March 18, Thunder Bay police were executing a search warrant at motel room on Cumberland Street. Upon entering the room, police observed Abramovich and another male at a table with weighing scales, packaging and small amounts of cocaine.
It was learned Abramovich was on an undertaking to not be within the city of Thunder Bay except for court purposes.
Just over a month later, Thunder Bay police were executing a second search warrant at the same motel and received information that two males were attempting to escape from the fifth floor. An officer attended the fourth floor hallway and noticed a man running towards him, the Crown said.
The male was recognized and identified as Abramovich. He was ordered to stop and advised he was under arrest by police. He was repeatedly asked to stop resisting and the requests were ignored, court heard.
Once he was handcuffed, the accused was searched and officers located a metal knife inside the front of his pants.
Defence counsel Elisa Coates and crown lawyers Stella Vallelunga and Ron Poirier put forward a joint submission for a suspended sentence for the drug possession charge and time-served for the three other offences. Abramovich has spent 95 days in custody on an enhanced basis.
Justice Danalyn Mackinnon accepted the joint submission but not before expressing reluctancy.
“It’s a great aggravating factor in this case that you had just been released from jail on March 18,” Mackinnon said. “This tells me you were involved with something that was more important than complying with orders of the court and that is why I am entering into this with a little bit of skepticism.”
Even though Abramovich entered a guilty plea to a simple drug possession charge, Mackinnon highlighted the fact that the circumstances of when he was arrested appeared to be of a drug trafficking nature.
“It is very disappointing for someone who is as young as yourself would be involving themselves in drug activity in Thunder Bay,” she said, adding she didn’t hear from counsel as to the reason why Abramovich was in the city in the first place.
The conditions of his sentence include not to be within the district of Thunder Bay within 36 hours after his release, not to attend the motel where he was arrested, must participate in counselling if directed by his probation officer, not to possess firearms or weapons, not to be in possession of any illegal drugs and he must forfeiture the knife he had in possession.
- This story was updated at 9 a.m. on July 17, 2020, to clarify the definition of a suspended sentence.
