Judge orders house arrest in crime proceeds conviction

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on February 26, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 38-year-old man caught selling drugs in Lethbridge more than two years ago has been placed on house arrest and ordered to perform 25 hours of community service.
Chad Allan Kress was given an 18-month conditional sentence Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court, after he pleaded guilty last November to two charges of possession of the proceeds of crime.
Kress will be on house arrest for the first six months of his sentence, followed by six months of curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day. He will not be subject to any curfew restrictions during the final six months of his sentence.
Court was told Lethbridge police were conducting a large-scale investigation of a number of people suspected of selling cocaine in 2019, and identified several suspects and cellphone numbers associated with them. On Sept. 5 and Dec. 3 of 2019 an undercover officer called a cellphone number and arranged on both days to buy half an ounce of cocaine for $950 and $900 respectively.
Crown Prosecutor Mark Klassen said police did not know with whom they talked on the phone to arrange to buy drugs, and although Kress was not the main target of police he conducted the actual transactions.
Lethbridge lawyer Miranda Hlady said her client was charged during a time in his life when he was suffering from addictions, but no longer does.
“Those issues are, thankfully, now past him,” Hlady said.
“I had a drug problem,” Kress told the judge, “but I fixed it thanks to my family and being out in the middle of nowhere.”
During his conditional sentence, Kress must perform 25 hours of community service. He is prohibited from possessing weapons and possessing and consuming alcohol and drugs, and he must live at a residence – currently in Carmangay – approved by his probation supervisor. He must also receive counseling as directed.

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