A jury acquitted Vitaline Lafferty, a 79-year-old great-grandmother, of eight drug trafficking-related charges in NWT Supreme Court Friday. Her daughter, 58-year-old Marie-Anne Lafferty, was found guilty of all eight offences.
The two Ndilo women were stopped in Vitaline's Ford Escape near Fort Providence on March 18, 2016 in a targeted RCMP interception.
A search of the SUV netted 1.7 kilograms of cocaine, 5.8 kilograms of marijuana, 11 bottles of liquid codeine and 85 grams of MDMA.
Marie-Anne closed her eyes as a juror read "guilty" for each of the eight charges.
Supporters of Vitaline broke down and wept as she was acquitted.
Both women pleaded not guilty to possessing drugs for the purpose of trafficking and trafficking, sending the case to trial.
Earlier this week, both women testified they didn't know they were traveling with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs.
After hearing closing arguments from defence and Crown prosecutor Duane Praught on Thursday, a 12-person jury began deliberating Friday afternoon.
They returned with the verdict after deliberating for just over two hours.
Outside of the Yellowknife courthouse, a friend of Vitaline's said she wasn't sure what the verdict would be, but said she was glad the trial was over.
"It's a relief," the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told Yellowknifer.
She added the trial was especially hard for Vitaline given her age.
Marie-Anne Lafferty will be back in court on Nov. 9 to speak to a sentencing date. Justice Shannon Smallwood has ordered a pre-sentence report for Marie-Anne.
Full story to come.