The cops caught prohibited driver Scott Carson behind the wheel twice in 12 months.
Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officers nabbed him on Wallace Terrace shortly before 12:30 a.m. on June 20, 2023.
In July of this year, they arrested him again during a traffic stop on Cathcart Street.
This time, a search found the 59-year-old wasn't just a suspended driver, but had 18 grams of methamphetamine, a judge heard earlier this month.
Carson pleaded guilty to six offences, including two counts each of driving while prohibited and failing to attend court, as well as a single charge of breaching a release order condition that prevents him from operating a vehicle.
He also was convicted of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act offence of possession of meth in connection with the July 17 traffic stop.
The accused has a substantial and related record for similar driving offences, including a 1991 conviction for dangerous driving, assistant Crown attorney Blair Hagan said.
Carson's last sentence, which was imposed in 2020, was for 90 days, she told
Ontario Court Justice Melanie Dunn during his Oct. 3 court appearance.
"Specific deterrence is an issue here."
The Crown and defence lawyer Jessica Belisle jointly recommended a sentence of time served — the equivalent of 116 days — plus a four-year driving prohibition.
"This is an early resolution of the matter," Hagan said. "Driving is a privilege not a right."
Federal prosecutor Lindsay Marshall indicated that she and Belisle were proposing a suspended sentence, with a 12-month probation order that includes counselling, for the CDSA offence.
The defence said her client has a lengthy addiction that began years ago with alcohol.
Carson is now addicted to meth and "it plagues him," Belisle told the court.
He also struggles with a mental health illness.
This is an early plea and he has taken responsibility for his actions, she said, agreeing his record is aggravating.
"He is a person capable of living free of crime," the defence also suggested.
When Dunn imposed the lawyers' recommended sentences she said she had "no hesitation in going along with the position."
She noted Carson's repeated driving offences, which include four convictions for driving while prohibited, and lengthy struggle with addiction.
The probation, which includes counselling, offers rehabilitative measures, the judge said.