48-month sentence for Lethbridge man who pleaded guilty to 16 charges

On that day, Crown Lawyer Bruce Ainscough described to the court around 7:45 a.m., a 77-year-old man and his 78-year-old wife who were from the Yukon, were travelling in a Ford pick up truck along Hwy 4 towards the U.S. border.

A stolen Chevrolet truck driven by Drake, failed to stop on Hwy 845 and t-boned the driver’s side. The collision was so intense, the passenger bench in the Ford slid underneath the dashboard.

Drake, who was not badly injured, initially denied he was the driver and fled the scene on foot. The 77-year-old male had 12 of 20 ribs broken, suffered a broken sternum, a bruised heart, concussion and brain bleed, and a broken neck. He was taken to Chinook Regional Hospital, but then transferred by air ambulance to Calgary.

The man’s wife suffered broken left and right ankles, four broken ribs, broken fingers on both hands, and a broken arm. Both husband and wife were treated in Calgary at two different hospitals and had to be airlifted back to Whitehorse where they spent another 3.5 months in the hospital.

Two victim impact statements from the couple, who have been married 54 years, were read out in court.

“(This was) all caused by a person who has no regard for anyone or anything…I will never forgive him for what he did to us,” read the statement from the husband.

“This man has caused irreparable damage to people who were previously unknown to him… he destroyed lives without remorse or thought to consequence,” wrote the wife.

Drake was also given an 18-month sentence for trafficking fentanyl.

According to facts read out in court, on July 28, 2016, Lethbridge Police had possession of a cell phone and called a specified number to arrange to pick up and buy some fentanyl. Logan Drake showed up to a pre-arranged location and sold police two fentanyl pills for $80.

On several other occasions between 2017 and 2018, Ainscough described how Drake broke into storage lockers, stole pick up or work vehicles, three work trailers, nearly $20,000 in tools – many of which were never recovered, $33,000 in civil war memorabilia, cash, credit cards and wallets. For those offences, he received a 6-month sentence.

Drake’s Calgary Defense Lawyer Shaun Leochko told the court the 28-year-old wants to take advantage of Federal programs available at the Bowden Institution if possible, to treat his mental health and addiction issues.

He told the court his client’s father also had alcohol addiction issues; that Drake himself first tried cocaine at 11-years-old and became addicted to fentanyl at the age of 17. He has a Grade 8 education and suffers from ADD and ADHD.

When asked by Judge Redman if he wanted to address the court, Drake said, “If they (elderly couple) were here, I’d apologize to them. I don’t think anyone should live through what they lived through.

“Hopefully, I can clean up my life.”

Drake has been in custody since Nov. 23, 2018 and with 1.5x credit for each day served, 252 days will be taken off his sentence, leaving him to serve about 3 years and 3 months.

by Lara Fominoff

48-month sentence for Lethbridge man who pleaded guilty to 16 charges

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