Photo of drugs and cash seized by ALERT in 2017

By Lara Fominoff

90-day sentence for Lethbridge man in connection with 2017 ALERT Medicine Hat drug bust

Oct 28, 2019 | 12:29 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A 29-year-old Lethbridge man will spend 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to one charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking- in connection with what ALERT called the largest Methamphetamine bust in Medicine Hat’s history back in Dec. 2017.

At the time, police seized 226 grams of cocaine, and 1.02 kg of methamphetamine worth about $125,000.

Michael Abate will not receive any probation, he will be prohibited from owning or possessing firearms for life, and will forfeit $2,750 seized by police, along with 112 g of cocaine.

The joint Crown and Defense submission was made in Lethbridge Provincial Court on Monday, Oct. 28.

According to an Agreed Statement of Facts, 48-year-old Shonna Scrivin was also charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of the proceeds of crime. She has since been sentenced.

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The Crown told the court Abate was simply a courier in the matter, and not the principle participant. He was also convicted in 2013 of drug trafficking and received 30 months in that case.

The judge in the case told the court the sentence was appropriate given significant gaps in the Crown’s ability to get a conviction on two other charges against Abate, which were withdrawn.