Accused drug trafficker Matthew Straume is due to enter pleas to federal and provincial Crown charges next month, Grand Forks provincial court heard Tuesday, May 4.
Judge Philip Seagram issued an endorsed warrant against Straume after the accused didn’t show up in court in April. Appearing before Judge Robert Brown Tuesday afternoon, Straume said he had been seriously ill at the time.
READ MORE: Accused drug-trafficker appears at Grand Forks Courthouse on federal charges
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Straume then said he intended to plead not guilty to three trafficking counts under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, insisting that the Crown test evidence seized during his city arrest last November.
“Some of that stuff isn’t what they say it was,” he told Brown.
Straume meanwhile faces provincial charges for criminal mischief and obstructing a peace officer and a separate charge under the Motor Vehicle Act for driving on a prohibited license.
Judge Brown said that Straume must enter pleas to all his charges at his June 1 arraignment hearing at the city courthouse, “or the court will enter pleas for him.”
Straume first appeared on his trafficking charges in March, when Judge Brown warned him that, “If there’s a conviction, your sentence could be significant.”
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