A trio arrested in relation to a drug bust in Inverness Co. have entered guilty pleas in the case.
RCMP say members of the Inverness/Richmond Street Crime Enforcement Unit searched a home in Sugar Camp in April.
They say officers seized roughly 150 grams of cocaine, marijuana, hashish, drug paraphernalia and cash.
Police say they arrested three men from Sugar Camp.
Joshua Nicholson, 32, Brendan MacAskill, 27, and Steven MacEachern, 25, all originally faced four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and a single count of possession of equipment to assist in the trafficking of cocaine.
Their cases opened in April; they all elected trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court by judge and jury, and were scheduled for their preliminary inquiries, which determine if there’s enough evidence to send a case to trial, in Port Hawkesbury Provincial Court Friday.
Instead, Nicholson pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and three breaches, and received a two-year prison sentence and one year of probation.
MacAskill was sentenced to one-year probation and fined for possession, while MacEachern entered a guilty plea to possession of equipment to assist in the trafficking of cocaine; he’s scheduled to return to court for sentencing May 7.
Nicholson has had numerous run-ins with the law in the past; he pleaded guilty to assault, uttering threats and a drug count, and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation, 12 hours community service and a fine in relation to a Dec. 2016 incident.
He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and six months’ probation after he pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon following a bear spray incident in Port Hawkesbury in 2012.
