Dial-a-dope drug dealer could face deportation, says lawyer

A 21-year-old man who pocketed thousands of dollars selling cocaine for Todd Dube could face deportation depending on the sentence he receives later this week, his lawyer says.

Dube was sentenced to one of the territory's longest prison sentences for drug traffickingin October.On Monday, the sentencing hearing began for Yohannes Seyoume of Edmonton.

Seyoume pleaded guilty in November totrafficking cocaine inYellowknife. An earlier charge of conspiracy to commit trafficking was withdrawn.

Defence lawyer Peter Harte said he believes his client could be sent back to Kenya if handed a sentence of more than six months behind bars.

Seyoume was born in Somalia,but he grew up in Kenya beforecoming to Canada at the age of seven, Harte told the court. He pointed to a section of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act on "serious criminality" to support his statement, following the hearing.

Court heard Seyoumeworked as one of three dial-a-dope operators in awell-organized drug operation headed by Dube.

• Wiretapped audio gives raw glimpse into illegal drug trafficking in Yellowknife
• 14 arrested, 1,000 fentanyl pills seized in multiple searches in Yellowknife area
• Yellowknife drug ring 'kingpin' receives 9-year prison sentence

The group worked by purchasing an ounce ofcocaine from Dube for about $2,300 and then they would divide it into about 50 to 55 "street grams" portions weighing half a gram each, according to theagreed statement of facts.

Seyoume rotated working 12-hour shifts with the other three operators and sold each street gram for $80 to $100.

Crown prosecutor Duane Praught told the court the operators were making between $12,000 and $15,000 perweek in sales from the dial-a-dope operation.

Seyoume was involved from Feb. to Apr. 2016, until Yellowknife RCMP arrested him and Dube outside Coyote's Bistro on Apr. 4 of that year.

The arrest was one of many in what RCMP dubbed Project Green Manalishi, an investigation that targeteddrug trafficking in the Northwest Territories.

• Yellowknife man gets 30 months for his part in 'dial-a-dope' drug network
• 5-year sentence for Yellowknife man arrested in 'Green Manalishi' drug bust

Praught recommended a sentence of 30 to 36 months, minus a credit of about seven months for the time Seyoume already spent in custody.

Although he described the man as a street-level dealer, Praught said Seyoume played an integral role in Dube's operation.

He added Seyoume's involvement was purely motivated by money.

Harte, however, suggested a sentence of two years less a day would be appropriate and notedSeyoume has no prior criminal record.

A decision is scheduled for Feb. 8 in Yellowknife Supreme Court.