Man found guilty of possessing proceeds of crime in Inuvik, despite charter breach

A man found in an Inuvik hotel room nearly three years ago with close to $63,000 in cash has been found guilty of possessing proceeds of a crime, even though police breached his charter rights duringtheir investigation.

Ali Omar, who was charged after police executed a search warrant at the Arctic Chalet in March of 2019, appeared in a Yellowkinfe courtroom on Monday, over video from B.C.

Omar sucked on a light blue vape pen as his lawyer, who attended over video from Edmonton, navigated some technical difficulties.

Once the proceedings began, Northwest Territories Supreme Court Justice Louise Charbonneau explained her reasons for theguilty verdict, which included her determination that the cash was connected to cocaine trafficking in Inuvik.

Charbonneau said her decision was based on cell phone data, banking records, income tax records, and the testimony of an expert witness and police.

It was also based on evidence collected from Omar's room at the Arctic Chalet using a search warrant, despite her earlier conclusion that the warrant was "not validly issued."

The search of the hotel room uncovered cash, a digital scale bearing cocaine residue, a knife and cell phones.

Charbonneau said Omar was the only person in the hotel room where, according to photos, four bundles of cash were found in a suitcase. Omar also confirmed that a cell phone in the room was his.

Omar's lawyer, Lonnie Allen, told CBC News after the verdict was delivered that the evidence presented at trial emerged from an "egregious breach" of Omar's charter rights, and shouldn't have been admitted at all.

Allen said they plan to appeal Monday's decision.

Improper traffic stop

Omar previously applied to have the evidence seized during the search of his hotel room excluded.

He argued that his charter rights were breached in the process of collecting that evidencethrough an improper traffic stop that helped police obtain a search warrant for the room at the Arctic Chalet.

In her Oct. 13, 2021, ruling on that application, Charbonneau wrote that a random vehicle stop is "by definition, an arbitrary detention," and that it can only be justified if police are using their powers for "limited highway-related purposes."

In Omar's case, she wrote, the traffic stop had nothing to do with the enforcement of motor vehicle legislation, and police admitted that the purpose of it was to assist in their drug investigation.

"It follows that the search at Arctic Chalet was a warrantless search that breached Mr. Omar's rights," wrote Charbonneau.

'Significant breach'

"There shouldn't be a carte blanche ability of officers to just pull people over to further their investigations," Allen told CBCNews.

"Our position is that it is a significant breach."

Crown prosecutor Jeffrey Major-Hansford told CBCNews that "there's a test in the charter that allows for evidence to be admitted even in the face of a charter breach," and that Charbonneau applied that test.

Indeed in her October ruling, Charbonneau said that if the evidence is excluded, the Crown would have no case.

She said thecontext the significant amount of money allegedly generated from illegal activity in a small and isolated northern community weighed heavily on her decision.

Charbonneau wrote that the charter breach did damageto the administration of justice, but that"it is the exclusion of the evidence, not its admission, that would bring the administration of justice into disrepute" in Inuvik.

Omar can use proceeds to pay legal fees

An earlier decision also determined that Omar could use a portion of the proceeds at issue in his case to pay for his legal fees.

Allen said that despite Monday's ruling, the earlier decision still stands and Omar can still put that money toward his legal expenses.

Omar, who is not in custody, is set to appear by video for his sentencing on March 21.