Accused in fentanyl trial says he never intended to sell drug

A Yellowknife man who, at the start of his trial, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking says when he bought furanyl fentanyl online he never had any intention to sell it.

On Friday, Darcy Oake, 24,testified in his own defence. He facesfour drug-related charges, including criminal negligence causing bodily harm for allegedly giving some of the opioidto a woman who then overdosed.

The charges date back to late-November 2016.

Oake testified he used a special identity-hiding browser to illegally order 10 grams offuranyl fentanyl, 100 Xanax anti-anxiety pills as well ascigarettes from a website he believed to be based in Canada because prices were listed in Canadian dollars. Another of the charges Oake is facing is illegally importing drugs into Canada.

Oake saidthe woman who overdosed was a friend who he had done drugs with at least a hundred times. Oake said after he told her abouthis order, she began nagging him about whether it had been delivered to him.

In text messages retrieved from his phonethe day she overdosed, the woman texted Oake trying to negotiate a trade.

"If I can only get those pams till tomorrow will you trade me then tomorrow I'l buy some?? Pleaaaaseeee. You know I'd do it for you."

'Pams' is short for clonazepam, a tranquilizer.

The woman testified she arranged to meet Oake in the garage of his family home after refilling a prescription for the drug.

"Have a line ready for me," she texted.

Oake testified the woman "was stoked for it ... she wanted to get high," but said he warned her repeatedly about the potency of the drug. He had overdosed on it the day before, within an hour of taking delivery of it. He said the line he prepared for her was, "tiny, tiny, just a few grains ... it wasn't even a line."

The woman testified it was a big line. She said she trusted Oake to decide what was a safe amount and, despite that, blacked out within moments of taking the drug. She remained unconscious for more than a day and had to be helped to the hospital after she regained consciousness.

Oake could well be the last person to testify at his trial. Both sides return to court on Sept. 16, when the prosecutor will say whether he intends to call any additional witnesses.