A man accused of stealing diamonds while working at a Diavik facility made his first court appearance this week.
A well-dressed, sullen looking Samson Mkhitaryan, 39, appeared before judge Bernadette Schmaltz in NWT territorial court on Tuesday.
He faces two counts of theft over $5,000 after an RCMP-led investigation into internal theft from the mining company led to his arrest last month.
A probe, carried out by Yellowknife RCMP and the NWT RCMP Federal Investigations Unit, was launched in late February after Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. officials alerted police of the suspected theft.
Yellowknife RCMP remained tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding the alleged theft, including whether or not the Mkhitaryan was employed by Diavik and in what capacity, citing employment privacy laws.
Through search warrant documents obtained by the CBC earlier this week, the broadcaster reported the theft is alleged to have occurred – on two separate occasions – at the Diavik diamond sorting plant, not the mine itself.
Mkhitaryan, working as a sorter at the facility, allegedly swiped rough diamonds on Feb. 5 and Feb. 19.
Mkhitaryan is due back in court on May 15.
Three-year sentence for Hache's cocaine courier
A Yellowknife man who used his position as a airline employee to transport cocaine and cash as a courier in Norman Hache's drug network was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday.
Forty-eight-year-old Mike Dunn, who previously pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and conspiring to traffic cocaine, was handed the sentence by Justice Shannon Smallwood.
Dunn was arrested in September 2016 as the result of an RCMP-led investigation – dubbed Project Green Manalishi – that targeted high level drug trafficking in Yellowknife and the territory.
In court Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Duane Praught submitted audio recordings and transcripts of intercepted phone calls and text messages between Dunn and Hache – the defendant's brother-in-law.
In one recording, the two were heard discussing and sharing concerns over the fallout of a network member's recent arrest.
In another recording played by the Crown, Hache is heard telling a would-be bulk buyer he has a “buddy" who works at an airline and that he could use his “link” there to send cocaine to the buyer with “no problem.”
The court heard Dunn had worked at the airline for more than 20 years prior to his arrest.
Praught, requesting a custodial sentence of three years, said the recordings illustrated Dunn's “full and complete participation” in the Hache-head drug organization.
Praught said Dunn – whose job allowed him to place parcels of drugs on planes without being questioned – was motivated by greed, not because he had been manipulated by his “charismatic” brother-in-law, a contention the defendant made in a pre-sentence report.
Dunn's lawyer, Peter Hoare, said his client had accepted responsibility for his actions.
Hoare also asked for a three year sentence.
In handing down her sentence, Smallwood said it was clear Dunn was “aware of the nature of what he was doing,” and emphasized the harmful impact his actions had on vulnerable communities and their residents.
Bonita Bohnet, a member of the same organization, received a five-year sentence earlier this month for trafficking cocaine and fentanyl, while Devon Herback was handed three years in February for his role as a transporter in the drug ring.
Lloyd Thrasher back in court on break and enter charges
A man who gained notoriety in 2011 after being convicted of stabbing a dog to death and threatening staff at the North Slave Correctional Centre is facing a number break-and-enter related charges.
Lloyd Thrasher, 30, is charged with breaking and entering with intent, wearing a disguise with intent, possessing break-in instruments and failure to comply with a probation order.
All four charges stem from the same incident, which is alleged to have occurred on March 7.
Thrasher has a number of similar convictions on his lengthy criminal record.
Last August, Thrasher was convicted of being unlawfully in a dwelling house and breaking and entering with intent.
He earned another conviction for uttering threats after threatening the RCMP officers who arrested him.
He was handed an 11-month sentence for the string of offences.
In May of 2011, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to killing a woman's pet pug.
Thrasher's lawyer Kate Oja appeared on his behalf in NWT territorial court Tuesday.
Prosecutor Blair MacPherson told Judge Bernadette Schmaltz the Crown intends to withdraw the disguise with intent charge but that it will proceed on the remaining counts.
Thrasher is expected to enter pleas to the charges on May 8.