Man gets credit for time served on offences

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on May 1, 2024.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 35-year-old man who committed several criminal offences in February and March has been sentenced to just under four months in jail.

Christopher Sonny Small Legs pleaded guilty in Lethbridge court of justice to single charges of break and enter, obstructing a peace officer and possession of stolen property under $5,000, as well as two charges each of drug possession and failure to comply with release conditions.

He was sentenced to 115 days in jail, but given credit for the equivalent of 115 days he spent in remand custody, which completes his sentence.

At about 1 a.m. on Feb. 5 a hotel employee called police to report a break-in and that individuals may be in one of the rooms. Officers and a police dog didn’t find anyone in the suspected room, but as they were leaving the room they saw two people, one of whom was Small Legs who the hotel employee had seen earlier on surveillance video.

One of the officers spoke to the woman who was with Small Legs, while the other officer followed Small Legs as he headed toward the emergency exit. As the officer passed one of the rooms, he noticed the door slightly ajar and footprints leading into the room.

Although Small Legs managed to leave the building, he was arrested by a third officer for breaking into the hotel.

During a search police found 10 bags containing 2.6 grams of fentanyl, and 12 bags containing 3.7 grams of methamphetamine. At the time of his arrest he was breaching an earlier release order that had placed him on 24-hour house arrest at a residence on the Piikani Nation.

A month later Small Legs was found inside an outhouse on a job site in the 900 block of 2A Avenue North. Police were directed to the outhouse and noticed the metal latch had been broken. When they opened the door they saw Small Legs and two other individuals inside.

Small Legs initially identified himself as Rodney Small Legs, and he had a wallet belonging to someone else. He also had a knife with a six-inch blade, even though at the time he was subject to a release order prohibiting him from possessing any weapons.

Calgary lawyer Kirsten Lancee told court her client has had a difficult life and struggles with drug addiction.

“He started using drugs, what he believes to be recreationally, but very quickly became a very large problem,” Lancee said. “It began with marijuana, (he) started to use alcohol and harder drugs, including methamphetamine and fentanyl, starting at the age of 19.”

Lancee noted, however, that Small Legs has been admitted into Bringing the Spirit Home Detox Centre on the Blood Reserve.