Accused in record drug bust may see bail hearing next week

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on February 3, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 34-year-old man charged in relation to one of the city’s largest drug busts, could seek his release from custody when he returns to court in a week.

Patrick Rodney was tentatively scheduled for a bail hearing Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court, but his lawyer, Brad Kraus of Calgary, requested an adjournment to better prepare for the bail hearing and review additional disclosure he only recently received.

Kraus said afterward that even though the bail hearing is set for next Thursday, it could be adjourned again.

On Dec. 20 of last year ALERT Lethbridge’s organized crime team and the Lethbridge Police Service seized more than $1 million worth of drugs and cash, after searching two vehicles, a home in the London Road area and a garage in the neighbourhood of Winston Churchill High School.

Police found four firearms, including a prohibited sawed-off shotgun and a loaded handgun that had been reported stolen from Redcliff, and they seized two vehicles, $79,000 in cash, and 5.2 kg of methamphetamine, 3.2 kg of cocaine, 1.6 kg of fentanyl powder, 418 grams of ketamine, and 35 grams of psilocybin mushrooms.

Rodney, who appeared in court by CCTV from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, is charged with five counts of drug possession for the purpose of trafficking, two counts each of unlawful storage of a firearm, knowingly possessing a prohibited or restricted weapon, knowingly possessing an unauthorized firearm, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, and single counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, possession of a firearm obtained by crime, possession of a prohibited weapon, and use of a firearm while committing an offence. He is also charged with breach of probation stemming from a firearm prohibition in 2014.

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